


Hooked Up

by toodeepinthatfanzone



Series: Up and Down [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, Adrien best dad, Crushing, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Make Outs, Mentions of alcohol, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy, aged-up, and 18+ things, how do I tag this correctly?, lots of magic stuff, no explit content tho, this story is longer than I thought it would be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-03-04 06:53:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 63,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13358868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toodeepinthatfanzone/pseuds/toodeepinthatfanzone
Summary: After an eventful night, Marinette finds herself pregnant with her school crush's child and has to replan her whole future. At the same time, Adrien tries to be the best father all of Paris has ever seen.Suddenly Ladybug takes a break too, Hawk Moth becomes silent and a black cat spends an unusual amount of time with a girl that he liked but never considered as more than a friend.So how will a baby change their world?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After having seen many fanfictions in which Ladybug or Marinette became pregnant, not knowing that Adrien himself really was the father, I kind of thought... 'what if my favourite side of the love square accidentally hook up and they know it had been with their classmate?'
> 
> So I don't know if that makes sense but we will see, right?  
> Also, this might be my first big story for this fandom too ^^
> 
> You can find my Tumblr here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/toodeepinthatfanzone

**-Part One: Crawling Into It-**

 

“Are you having a good time?” Alya chirped as she gently bumped her hips into Marinette’s.

She just gave her friend a confused look and focused back on the crowd dancing in front of her again. 

Alya wasn’t having any of that, though. “Oh c'mon! This is our last chance to have a party before our exams start and all you do is hang around the bar…. All by yourself… without company.”

“Alya,” Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose. “It's alright, I'm okay. You need to concentrate on taking pictures for the yearbook, Nino is doing his DJ stuff and I don't want to interrupt the others.”

“Bullshit.”

“Alya!”

“Okay, listen to me girl!” The redhead caught her by the arm and turned her around. “We have three months left before we graduate and those will be full of stress, I’ll tell you that! And here we are, possibly at our last party as a class and we should so take advantage of the fact that Chloé rented this place.” Marinette sighed again, but Alya pushed further. “You're our class president, everybody loves you, so don't you dare think that anybody here wouldn't like to dance with you.” And then she wiggled her eyebrows. “Actually… I’ve noticed a handsome model sitting all by himself,” she added in a sing-song voice.

She turned around again and immediately caught sight of said model. Adrien looked rather lonely since Nino was busy and Chloé was off, probably making out somewhere with the boyfriend she got after Adrien kindly rejected her love confession. His hands were playing with his glass as he stared blankly at his dancing classmates.

“Let me tell you something,” Alya started again, leaning closer to her friend now. “You’re going to get that sweet ass of yours over there and have some fun! I don't want to see that frown on your face for the rest of the night, alright?” There was no room to complain and Marinette grabbed her glass to empty it so that she could leave her spot.

“You owe me a drink for that!” She called over her shoulder and Alya laughed but winked at her. 

She felt nervous as she made her way towards the blonde, fiddling with her hair. It was weird. Adrien and she had become rather close friends over the past years, mostly because of the thing between their best friends (they still denied to be in a relationship), but that didn't mean that she was over the sweet, shy and kind model boy. So there was still this little spark of hope, whenever she was with Adrien, that he would see her as more than just a friend.

He hadn't noticed her approach the table and, therefore, she cleared her throat loudly to get his attention over the music. Adrien almost jumped at the sound and turned around, looking at her with bright green eyes, until he relaxed a bit.

“Hi, Marinette! Sorry I didn't notice you.” He smiled up at her and she returned it.

“No problem… uhm,” Her fingers pointed to the chair across from his. “Would you mind some company?” 

His smile grew almost shy as he shook his head. “Not at all.” 

She nodded and pushed her chair back to sit down. Awkward silence made its way between them and Marinette tried to think of anything she could say to him before it became even weirder. She followed his line of sight as his eyes wandered back to the DJ table.  _ Nino. _

“So, Nino must have been really excited for tonight? He does a really good job!" She blurted out and Adrien giggled.

“He couldn't talk about anything else than tonight for the past week because he was so hyped to try out the stuff here." he agreed and looked back over to the dark haired girl. "And I've noticed that Alya is pretty busy with the yearbook too?”

“Don't even mention it! The only two important things in her life currently are the yearbook and the Ladyblog. I don't even know how she is able to handle all those things  _ plus  _ learning.”

“She is pretty good at handling multiple things at once, isn't she?”

“That's probably the exact reason why she chose to study journalism, after all.” Marinette shook her head and brushed some of her hair out of her face. Adrien just turned his head gently to the side.

“Actually, you never told me what you're planning to do after school.." he stated and gave her a deep look. "Are you going to follow your dream and become a fashion designer?” She looked around herself to make sure that no one was listening before leaning closer to Adrien, who did the same thing.

“Actually, I received a letter from ESMOD two days ago. They accepted my application for a scholarship.” 

The blonde whistled in awe as he leaned back in his chair again, giving her a big smile. “A scholarship at ESMOD? That must be a dream come true to you.”

“It is!" she squeaked in excitement. "But, um... only my family and Alya know about it, I didn't want to make a big deal out of it.” 

His smile became shy as he blushed. “Your work is amazing, Marinette, you really deserve that scholarship. I believe that you'll blow the world away with your talent one day.” 

She felt her face become extremely warm and she was probably blushing to the tip of her ears. Only Adrien’s compliments could make her feel like that. She shook her head again as he lifted his glass to avoid eye contact.

“You... um, never... re-really told me what you were planning to do after school either.” And here was the stuttering girl again. 

Adrien choked on his drink but played it off by faking a cough. His glass was empty now. “I did some talking with my father and well... I'm going to study Physics,” Marinette loved that boy but that statement made her think about it again. Adrien was smirking at her. “And yes, I know how much you hate Physics.”

“With all respect… who in the world voluntarily decides to study Physics!?" she groaned. 

His lips twitched in amusement. “Actually, I'm going to study Physics and Math to become a teacher.” And now Marinette was completely done with him as she pressed the palm of her hand against her head, but Adrien lifted a hand to stop whatever she had been about so say. "You might not believe it, Mari, but there are indeed people who are interested in those subjects.” 

She could only shake her head and Adrien really tried to not break out into laughter.

“A teacher!? Haven't we spent enough time in school already? Why would you like to become a teacher?" she asked in honest disbelief.

“Well," The blonde shrugged his shoulders. "I just like to help people and teachers kind of help young people through an important stage of their lives.” 

She snorted.“If you wanted to help people you could just… volunteer as a fireman or something like that.”

“Rude, Mari.” He was giggling again.

They were interrupted by someone putting a new drink on their table and Marinette looked up to find her best friend winking down at her. Alya’s purple dress was gone as fast as it had appeared and she sighed looking at the cocktail. It probably contained more alcohol than she had intended to drink that night.

“She owed me a drink." she explained while taking a sip.

Adrien just hummed while focusing back on the dancing floor. They sat there again in silence until she decided that something had to change. Marinette stood up abruptly, causing Adrien to look up at her again as she held out a hand to him. “Would you like to dance?” 

He looked a bit perplexed by her question.“Huh?”

“Look, we should have some fun, right? We shouldn't be just sitting here talking about our future plans when we don't even have our graduation certificates yet… so would you like to check out the dance floor?” Fifteen year old Marinette would have panicked by the thought of asking Adrien Agreste to dance with her. Seventeen year old Marinette on the other hand felt confident enough to grab the boy's hand since he was too slow to register her words and to easily drag him after her. 

“Yeah! I guess I'd like that." he laughed behind her.

 

* * *

 

There was literally no acceptable explanation to why Adrien Agreste, of all people, would have his arm draped over her shoulders and his nose pressed to her left cheek other than the fact that he was just as drunk as her. The evening was a blur of loud music, drinking and laughing and somehow she had ended up behind the DJ table, in between Nino and Adrien. Usually, Marinette would have rolled her eyes at Alya who took constantly pictures of the drunk friends. That's right, friends.

“Babe!" Nino screamed out and gave the redhead a dead stare. "Could you people, please, stop stepping over this stuff like it's not expensive!? If anything happens to the equipment I’ll have to pay for it.” 

Alya just waved that statement off and lifted her phone. Adrien snorted and his friend turned around to point at him. 

“Stop that, Bro, you have enough cash on your bank account to buy ten of those things. I don’t!”

“Boys!" Alya interrupted and smirked. "It's just some stuff,” - “Yeah, just some stuff...” Adrien slurred over her voice. - “Now smile, we need a new group selfie!” Her hand lifted, phone already in selfie mode, as the four of them tried to squeeze into the frame.

Adrien pulled his arm tighter around Marinette and she let out a surprised squeak. There. Was. No. Way. Adrien. Agreste. Wasn’t. Drunk.

“Oh, no!" Alya then sighed while looking down on her phone. "Girl, can I send you some pictures? I’m running low on storage?” She looked up and gave her best friend a pleading grin. 

Marinette shrugged and pulled out her own phone from the back pocket of her pants. The screen was too bright and she scrunched her eyes together with a groan which made the blonde next to her chuckle again. Her brows furrowed at seeing the time.

“I should make my way home soon." she stated silently. "It’s already 2:30 and I promised to be home by 3 in the morning.” Her friends gave her disapproving stares but Marinette still wound her way out of Adrien’s tight grip.

He had different plans, though, as he grasped her upper arm. “I’ll walk you home," he declared and locked his eyes with hers. 

She immediately shook her head and pushed some of her hair out of her face. “There is no need. Thank you, Adrien, but I’m able to walk home by myself.” Well, Ladybug was able to walk home by herself, or rather swing over the rooftops. But the girl had trouble believing that Tikki would even let her transform right now. 

Alya spoke up again, gently laying another hand on her best friend's shoulder. “It’s 2 in the morning and it’s pretty dark outside, Mari. Maybe it is a good idea to not walk home by yourself.” There was just a little teasing in her voice which Marinette’s alcohol addled brain failed to register.

Marinette was too drunk to think straight, so she just rubbed her temples and then climbed over Nino’s DJ table, what made the boy throw mumbled curses ather. She turned around and waved at Adrien, the boy still hadn’t moved from his spot. “Are you coming or...?”

 

* * *

  
  


The Parisian night was much colder than the teens had expected. It was an early April night and, while the sun was warm enough during daytime, it still got pretty chilly at night. There were also rain clouds approaching in a near distance and Marinette prayed that she would be home before her clothes could get wet. She stole glances over to Adrien from time to time who was walking next to her, making horrible puns with shop names or posters on lampposts. She rolled her eyes at a particular bad one.

“Who would have thought that you are just a punster?" she groaned and earned herself an Agreste eyebrow wiggle.

“Not a fan of puns, are you?" he asked just a tiny bit disappointed. 

Marinette had to rub her temples again. “Puns are okay, but you kind of crashed my good impression of Adrien Agreste here." she said and stopped in front of a street light.

“Me-ouch.” Her head turned to give him an annoyed stare, but Adrien's shit eating smirk was too much for Marinette’s nerves right now. 

The light turned green and she wasted no time in crossing the street.  _ Please don’t let him start using cat puns. Please don’t let him start using cat puns. Please don’t let him-  _

“Have I already told you that you look purrrfect tonight, Princess?” 

She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, body whipping around and finger pressing against a broad chest. While the nickname was familiar, her fuzzy brain was more focused on punishing him for the bad pun. But somehow her shoe got stuck between two loose stones, she lost control over her balance as she stumbled into Adrien, who was too surprised to really register the situation. They moved backwards until his back pressed against the fence of a park, faces only inches away from one another as both teenagers blushed. 

If Marinette’s brain hadn’t been too occupied with the fact that she just fell into Adrien Agreste’s arms again and that she had made a complete fool of herself _again_ and that he was now so painfully close to her **again** , then maybe she would have been actually able to control her actions.

When her thoughts had finally cleared out she got hit by the mortifying fact that she had snuck her arms around the neck of her school crush and was currently sucking off his face. Not that Adrien complained by the way he wound his arms around her waist. And all of her sudden panic (she was  **kissing** Adrien! Holy shit!) seemed to melt away with every move of his lips against hers. Both of them were clumsy, teeth clicking together and hands having trouble finding a good place to stay, but they were interrupted by little chilly droplets falling from the sky, wetting their clothes as a faint low rumble was heard in the distance. They drifted apart, breaths going heavier than before and all they could do was stare at each other in pure silence for an undefinable amount of time.

“We should..." Adrien coughed in his palm to make his voice sound normal again, Marinette stepped away shyly. "My… my house is closer, we should go there and wait until…” He vaguely gestured to the raindrops around them. She hummed in agreement, still too embarrassed to trust her words. As the rain started to get heavier, Adrien finally decided to make the first move by grabbing her hand in his and starting to run down the street.

* * *

“We need to be silent," the blonde whispered while locking his bedroom door behind him. "I haven’t actually told anyone that I might not be home tonight.” When he turned to look at her, he immediately blushed again. Because they were locked in a room together now, all alone after that awkward kiss that seemed to have taken place hours ago, all wet and cold from the rain. So Marinette took the opportunity to sit down on his floor rubbing her arms, enjoying the warmth flowing through her body more than she should. “Do you need anything?”

“Just some dry clothes?" she asked and pulled herself up again. Her mouth flew open by the sight in front of her. Adrien had took off his shirt and was now rummaging through his closet while looking for something Marinette could wear.

“If you want you can use my bathroom and get some towels," the model mentioned, pulling out a shirt that had always been too small for him. "Do you need shorts or would you-” He stopped mid-sentence, body slightly turned around already as he noticed a half-naked Marinette Dupain-Cheng climbing in his bed. “W-what are you doing!?”

If there ever had been a moment in which Marinette should be embarrassed, it should have been now but, for some reasons, she just wasn’t.

“I decided that your bed is completely fine for keeping me warm," her bare legs found their way under his blanket as she bit on her lower lip. “Maybe it’ll be warm enough for you too?” They stared at each other for a while. Sober Marinette was having a crisis, cursing her drunk version for suggesting such things to Adrien!

“You know that... that if... if I come over to you there is no chance of me being able to not kiss you again." he said slowly, dropping the clothes and fidgeting with his long fingers. 

Shy eyes met each other as two nervous teenager were blushing messes, too drunk to think straight about the consequences that being together in a bed could bring. Her fingernails drummed against her knee for a second, and then she sighed silently.

“It’s not like I would have a problem with that, you know?” 

In only three seconds Adrien had crossed his bedroom, crawled into his bed and pressed his lips against hers again in a harsh kiss. Both of them knew that this would end up with some heavy aftermath, but neither of them wanted to stop the roaming hands and shy gasps. And that night they stepped over a line that would change their friendship forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I think I finally have an update schedule!  
> New chapters should be up every Sunday but I'll take two weeks off after a part is finished to be able to keep up with prewriting ^^
> 
> I was positively surprised by all your lovely feedback, thank you so much! :))

She could feel everything. From her throbbing head to her aching muscles but the soft sheets were just too comfortable. Her nose was pressed into a big fluffy pillow as she slowly started to wake up. And she really tried to stay asleep, since she just felt really awful, but her body was screaming for some water and painkillers. Something next to her moved and Marinette immediately snapped her eyes open. The sun was too bright at first but then she started to get a clearer vision and came to the realization that she was not in her bedroom. Memories filled her brain; drunk people, Adrien being all clingy and even walked her home and they kissed and she stopped breathing for a second by the clear image of her school crush hovering over her during a really intimate moment.

Marinette didn’t want to turn around. She didn’t want to see the evidence of what happened only hours ago but she still did it. Slowly lifting herself off the mattress and turning around she held her breath. Her face was right in front of Adrien Agreste. A fairly naked Adrien Agreste. His eyes slowly opened by the light whimper that left her lips and as soon as he recognized the situation he froze.

“Marinette," he whispered while slowly lifting his arms and moving away from her. "Please don’t freak out!”

And that was her cue. A loud shriek filled Adrien’s bedroom as Mari tried to escape him. She missed the end of the bed and fell onto the floor. Adrien was about to lean over and reach out for her, but suddenly Marinette had already stood up by herself while she held onto the bed sheet around her body for dear life.

“I, uhm... haha I just need to use... uhm, the... uhh, bathroom?" she rambled picking up her purse and some other clothing on her way. "Yeah, I’ll just use the bathroom, okay, bye!” She was out of the room in only mere seconds and locked the door behind her. Her breathing was extremely fast as she started to pace back and forth.

“Holy shit." she cursed and grabbed her hair. "I slept with Adrien… oh my… I just slept with Adrien! Tikki!?” The kwami appeared from the bag and flew up to her chosen’s face.

“Okay, Marinette, take deep breaths." the little red bug ordered while trying to get her attention. "It’s not the first time that something like that happened to a Ladybug, so, please, trust me. It’s not the end of the world.”

“What am I supposed to do!? Act like nothing happened? I can’t act like nothing happened!” She threw her hands up in the air what made her realize that she was still naked. A blush crept its way on her cheeks while she sat down and fiddled with her clothes. “I mean, yeah, I like Adrien a lot but THIS wasn’t planned.”

Tikki smiled softly and nuzzled into Marinette's neck after she put her shirt on again. “Get ready and try to get a clear head, I’m sure the situation will be easier to handle then.”

But the girl just groaned again.“My head is exploding." she stated. "I don’t want to face that stupid boy… can’t you just transform me?”

“Sorry, you aren’t really in a state where transforming would be a good idea." the kwami apologized but flew down to her chosen’s purse and pulled out her phone. "Maybe you could try to get in contact with Alya?” Marinette took the device in her hand and tried to turn it on but the display didn’t react.

“Tikki! My battery died. I can’t even contact her! What am I supposed to do!?”

 

-

 

“What am I supposed to do?" Adrien asked while slipping into his shirt. He leaned back on his bed but felt something weird under him. His cheeks grew hot as he saw the red lace bra.

“I don’t know, kid. You humans are really weird when it comes to your mating rituals." Plagg answered and flew through the room with a piece of cheese in his paws. "Maybe you should offer her some camembert, at least it solves problems.”

“At least it solves _your_ problems." he corrected the cat like god but Plagg just shrugged. “Actually maybe you’ve got a point, I should get her some painkillers.” Lifting himself up from his bed he walked over to his desk and opened the lowest drawer. Since his father didn’t approve of parties and drinking, Adrien had made a habit of keeping important ‘the day after stuff’ well hidden in his room so that no one would see him with a hangover.

“Yeah get your girlfriend some painkillers.”

Adrien whipped his head around and shoot his kwami a warning look. “She is not my girlfriend." he clarified.

“You see, that doesn’t make any sense, kid!" the kwami complained. "I know that you _love_ Ladybug but why did you jump on your classmate, then?”

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. He sighed and closed his drawer after he found what he was looking for. “I do like Marinette, she is a great friend and, maybe, I would have asked her out months ago if it wasn’t for Ladybug… Maybe I did it because my drunk brain wanted to get some ‘sexual tension off’, like Nino would say it.” To be honest, he didn’t know why he was so willing to be with his friend earlier that day but he felt bad for using her as a replacement for his lady, especially since it was their very first time. Adrien groaned but moved closer to his bathroom and gently knocked on the door with a rapidly beating heart.

“Marinette? Are you alright?" he gently asked. "I uhm.. I got you some painkillers… Do you need anything else?” There was a long silence and he was just about to repeat his question when suddenly the door opened and a small figure sprinted out of the bathroom. He barely had the chance to turn around and blink before his bedroom door had opened and closed.

She had just left him standing there, completely confused.

 

* * *

 

Marinette stumbled into the bakery at around 10 something in the morning and sprinted up the stairs to her attic before her parents could catch a sight of her. She really hoped that they hadn’t since her hair was a mess, eyes red and puffy and she didn’t even wear her underwear completely. The first thing she did was to plug her phone into the charger and wait for it to reach a good amount of battery while she was looking for something else to wear. Mari called Alya as soon as the display came back to life.

“Hey girl!" her friend’s voice greeted way too motivated. "I was worried about you since you didn’t text me when you arrived at your place but I guess it had something to do with a tall blonde?”

The teasing almost made her end the call.

“I slept with Adrien!" Marinette blurted out, instead, and lifted her hand to cover her face. "I mean... I didn’t mean to and it probably didn’t mean anything to him but what should I do? I won’t be able to look him in the face ever again!”

“Whoa, wait wait wait wait _wait_." Alya interrupted. "Did I hear that right? You slept with Adrien!? Wow that’s great, isn’t it?”

“No!" the bluenette protested. "That’s not great at all! I totally embarrassed myself there! All my chances to get with him are gone now!”

“Hey, hey, deep breaths, Mari, deep breaths," She gently encouraged her. "I’ll be over in 20 minutes and then we’ll talk about everything. Now take a bath, and don’t forget to _breath_!” The line went dead and the girl curled into herself on the floor, letting out all the emotions she couldn’t hold anymore.

 

-

 

“Dude, you owe me big time," Nino said while slipping on the chair across from Adrien. The dark skinned boy wore sunglasses, his face was an unhealthy colour and all in all, Nino Lahiffe looked like a dead man walking.

“I am sorry, really, but this is important.” Adrien was about to continue when his best friend groaned in pain and leaned his head down onto the table. With a side glance he could see the bottles of water his mother had probably put on the kitchen counter.

“How are you even awake at this time? Are you even human!?" the other boy complained. "Seriously, man, you drank as much as me and look already fresh and clean. Must be a model thing.”

Adrien completely ignored Nino’s teasing. “Let's say some things happened last night and that’s why I am here. I need your help.”

“With what? Couldn’t that way until… I dunno... tomorrow?” Adrien rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket to pull out some painkillers, letting them slide over the table to his friend. The boy immediately took them.

“Actually, no, it can not wait." the blonde said. "Because I might have had an encounter with Marinette and now she probably hates me.”

Nino spilled half of the water with which he was trying to get the tablet down. Adrien frowned in disgust while his friend suddenly seemed to wake up from his hangover.

“What do you mean ‘you might have had an encounter with Marinette’!? Did you guys bang or what?”

“Nino!” Adrien muttered, burying his head in his hands.

“I mean, c'mon you can’t just walk into my house at almost..." He checked the clock. " ...one in the afternoon and tell me that you banged with our classmate slash best friend!”

“That’s what I just did….”

“No no no no no no no.” Nino leaned over to the other boy, pressing his index finger to the blonde’s lips and hushed him. Then he took a deep breath. “Okay, let me just get this clear. You told me yesterday that you wouldn’t like to drink too much at the party, you did it anyway because Alya owed Mari a drink. Then you danced and clung to the girl the whole night and you walked her home and ended up in bed!?”

Adrien was as red as a tomato as his friend stared at him in pure disbelief. “You don’t have to rub it in my face, thank you very much,” the model mumbled under his breath.

“Wow, just… wow.” For a while, neither of the boys said anything as they tried to process what just happened.

After some minutes Adrien sighed and leaned his head on his arms. “Just... what am I supposed to do now? I don’t want to ruin our friendship but she didn’t answer any of the texts I sent her and she, literally, ran away as soon as she saw me in the morning.” The mood turned into a depressive one as Adrien burned holes into the air with his glance.

Nino took the sunglasses off and rubbed at the glass to clean it. “Let her calm down for a while. She’ll come around. You know our Mari.”

 

* * *

 

Adrien tried to contact her on several ways during the weekend but she just blocked him since she still couldn’t stand the thought of talking to him. He also tried to directly approach her in school on Monday but, of course, she dodged out of his way there too. He eventually got tired of chasing after Marinette on Wednesday and the week continued like that. Luckily, for her, Marinette had different classes than Adrien what worked in her favor in this weird and awkward situation.

But the real horror began exactly 10 days after the incident. Because 10 days after the party the pictures of _that_ night for the yearbook were revealed and, of course, people weren’t oblivious not only to the fact that Marinette and Adrien had looked very close on them but also that they weren’t currently talking to each other. Alix was the first one to openly ask Mari about it.

“So did you hook up with model boy or…?" she asked during lunch break what caused her to really lose her appetite.

She gently hit her head against the surface of the table and everyone gave her a sympathetic look.

“Alix!" Alya hissed. "Stop that.”

“What? I am just trying to find out if the rumors are true!”

“What rumors? There are no rumors! Now mind your own business!” Alya snapped at Alix, in behalf of her friend.

Marinette tried her best to not listen to her best friend’s conversation with the pink haired girl but it was rather hard since Alix had always been quite loud. Her best friend defended her but even Alya had her limits and those were reached 14 days after the incident.

Adrien and Marinette had been paired up for a History project which was due to Monday. Normally, it wouldn’t have been a problem if the two of them had used the past three days to work on it together. But they still weren’t talking and Alya had enough.

“This is ridiculous!" She stated while looking back and forth between the two supposed-to-be-partners who were sitting 10 meters away from each other. “Okay, I know that you are still not over the whole thing with Adrien but, girl, this project could make your end grade drop so bad. You really want to risk your graduation just because you can’t talk about a one night stand like normal adults would?”

Marinette tried to hide her blush and turned the page of her book.

Alya rolled her eyes. “C’mon, two and a half months left and you’ll be out of school, studying and most likely not around him so often anymore.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to see him," Mari confessed. "I’m just too embarrassed about everything that happened... It was my fault and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he totally hates me right now.”

“He’s looking," her best friend stated quietly and Marinette shyly glanced up to see green eyes staring at her, but he turned away as soon as he was caught. The bell rang and her best friend sighed. “I know that you have two free periods now and Adrien does too. This problem better be solved after them.” She took her bag and left the room.

The library fell silent after a few minutes since most of the students headed to their classes. A few minutes passed by and she continued to blankly stare at her textbook about some historical event until footsteps came to her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Marinette?" he gently called out for her. "Can I sit next to you, please?” His voice gave her chills and she nodded. The chair to her left was pulled back and Adrien sat down with a sigh. He pushed his hair back. “I think we need to talk.”

“Yeah, that sounds logical.” They sat there and collected their thoughts until Adrien focused his full attention on her.

“I’m sorry." he started.

“No, I’m sorry! It was my fault, I shouldn’t have kissed you." she interrupted.

“Well, in the end it was me who actually jumped into bed with you.”

“But just because I had no shame and got undressed.” Marinette lifted her hands and hid her face behind them. She really hoped she could disappear right here and now.

The boy next to her cleared his throat. “We were both drunk and didn’t know what we were doing but it… it happened and I think we should handle the aftermath now." he smiled at her shyly when Marinette peered at the blonde from behind her fingers. “You were one of my very first friends here, Mari. And I am very glad that I was able to meet you. I don’t want to lose our friendship because of an accident.”

An _accident_. She shivered by the mention of that word and bite her lip.

“I don’t want to lose it either." she said. "But I won’t be able to forget it and it will be burned into my brain for the rest of my life because it was my fir-”

The blush on both of their faces were clearly visible and Adrien rubbed the back of his neck while Mari clasped her hands over her mouth.

“Good to know that we are on the same page." he chuckled and made her look up at him with a bewildered expression.

“Oh God, you are... _were_ a virgin!?” He shrugged his shoulders in a plain gesture. Of course she knew that Adrien never had a girlfriend before but she always assumed that the eighteen year old model already had the opportunity to lose his virginity. “I am so sorry! I didn’t intend to… oh my...”

“It’s alright, Marinette, I am not mad at you." he looked away. "Actually I am glad that it was one of my friends and not a complete stranger.”

She groaned because why would he be glad that it had been _her_.

He cleared out his throat. “Listen, things happened and they can’t be undone now. We don’t have to pretend like something changed between us because, seriously? I just want us to be alright again.” He held out his hand. “Friends?”

Marinette stared at it for a moment and considered her options. Not that there were many. She could push Adrien away but she didn’t really want to. She took his hand with a relieved smile.

“Friends.”

 

* * *

 

Chat laughed as he came to an abrupt halt.

“Yes!" he screamed and threw his hands up into the air. "I won! Ha! And you said that you were undefeatable!” His hips swung back and forth while he did a little celebration dance. It wasn’t a common thing that he was faster than Ladybug, especially not on their usual rout. Heavy breathing made him stop his motions and turn around to his partner, who held her side in pain. “Hey! Are you okay, Bugaboo?”

“I’m fine," she whispered and smiled. "Just feeling a little bit dizzy.”

Chat walked over and grabbed her waist to help her stand.

“It’s nothing big. Maybe the stress of my civilian life is finally catching up to me,” She said as they sat down at the edge of the roof and shared a look over Paris which became warmer and warmer with every new day.

“Stress, huh?" Chat asked. "I guess you are currently in your exam phase?”

“Yeah... we only have five weeks left until school ends and there are a lot of things going on right now. Half of my exams are already over, luckily," Ladybug took another deep breath and leaned back.

His ears twitched gently. “So what are you doing after school? Do you want to get a job or do you want to study?”

Her eyebrows furrowed and then she shrugged. “I guess I’m going to jump into the world and pursue my dreams.” The annoyed look on his face said more than words could have in that moment. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, maybe I was expecting something else than ‘jump into the world and pursue my dreams’. I thought that we became close enough over the past year that you would trust me with such a simple answer.”

They did became rather close in their time as crime fighting partners but there were some boundaries that Ladybug wouldn’t like to cross with Chat yet. “Sorry. You know that I can’t tell you exactly what I am going to do.” He turned his head away in disappointment and it hurt her more than she’d like to admit. “Chat I-”

“No, it’s fine. I understand." he interrupted and smiled at her, but his eyes told her that he didn’t really mean it. "How are you feeling?”

“Better. It’ll be better soon.”

 

* * *

 

It didn’t get better. Four weeks left until graduation and the only nerve wracking thing left was the announcement of their final grades. The next fourteen days in which the finals were corrected and graded would be an absolute pain for Marinette. She already had her scholarship and it all depended on how well she did in her exams.

“Girl, you don’t look too well." Alya stated as the bluenette made her way into the classroom on the first of fourteen days. " you still having trouble sleeping?”

“Yes," she yawned as if on cue. "I spent so much time learning and studying until midnight in the past weeks that I need to find a good sleep rhythm again.”

“Same for me," Nino added and saluted to Mari. "But the rest of school will be easy-peasy from now on.”

She really hoped that he was right. Hawkmoth was as present as always and, with at least one thing off of her mind, the situation already seemed to get easier to handle.

Adrien walked into the room, smiling brightly at his friends as Chloé split from his side to her own seat.

“Morning guys!" he greeted, but then started to look worried. "Mari, are you okay? You are really pale.”

“I’m fine," she answered. "Just need some deep sleep and time to relax. Don’t worry about me.”

Instead of saying anything the blonde just furrowed his brows. Their teacher walked in and demanded silence. She pulled out some worksheets out of her bag, handed them to her students and some quiet groans could be heard.

“We just wrote an exam about that a week ago, why would we need to do that again?" Kim whispered in the back and Marinette really wanted to agree with him. Math wasn’t one of her strong skills, even though she used to be pretty good at it in the first two or three grades.

The room was silent while the others were working on their assignments but for some reason, she just couldn’t focus. There was this feeling in the bottom of her stomach and it became more and more unpleasant as the lesson went on. Her eyes looked up to see Adrien, sitting in the familiar spot in front of her. His blonde locks were soft and she could almost feel the smooth texture on her fingertips. The memory of her hand pulling it and making him do sounds that she never heard before played in her head. And suddenly she felt sick, ready to throw up.

Everyone was shocked as their classmate almost jumped up and hurried out of the room.

“Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng!" The teacher called and was ready to go after her but Alya lifted her hand.

“Madame, may I go after her? She hasn’t been feeling well lately.” She looked between Alya and the door but nodded after a second.

“Make sure to be back before the end of the lesson!" he warned and the girl ran after her best friend.

She didn’t need too long. As soon as she opened the door to the bathroom she saw Marinette leaning over a sink, her hands were shaking as she splashed water into her face.

“Mari? Are you alright?" she called out and approached her slowly.

Marinette didn’t look alright at all. She wiped the water out of her face with a towel before she answered. “Sorry that I left so abruptly. I just remembered… some things with Adrien and got really sick of it." Marinette said and took a deep breath. "But it feels like it was just a short sort of panic attack.”

“Are you sure?”  Alya gently wrapped her arms around her friend as she started to shake again.

The two of them spent the next minutes sitting on the school’s floor and talked silently. Even though they already did that back then right after the hook up, things had changed yet again.

 

* * *

 

Alya had always been that kind of friend who would do anything for a loved person and as Marinette continued to feel sick in school, she informed her parents about it. Tom and Sabine immediately decided to let their daughter stay at home, even though she always felt better in the afternoons.

“Girl, guess what I got you?" Alya chirped as she climbed up the stairs to Marinette’s room, who was laying on her chaise. She pushed her hair out of her face while her friend put a plastic bag on the floor and pulled out various little boxes. “My class before lunch break got canceled so I decided to go to a pharmacy and get you some stuff.”

“Thank you, Alya, you really are the best friend anyone could want," She smiled and sat down next to the redhead. "Not even my mother's soup works against the sickness! We really don’t know what to do.”

“This is just stuff I could get easily, you should still go see a doctor, anyway," the girl informed her and pulled out the last box. She tapped it against her hand, hesitating a bit before looking at Marinette. “And I need you to do a pregnancy test.”

“A what!?” Marinette’s eyes went wide and she crawled back as if her friend was about to hurt her. Her back hit her chaise and she somehow moved around it, hiding herself. Alya sighed.

“Look, some of those medications aren’t good for pregnant people and since the guy behind the counter said that you might be experiencing morning sickness…”

“But I am not pregnant!”

“I’ve never said that you are, Mari, but you had a hook up recently, right? And even if you two used protection there’s always a small chance… It’s just so we know for sure that there’s nothing to worry about, okay?” The dark haired girl lifted her hand and opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out. Instead, she frowned, causing Alya to give a questioning look. “You did use protection… Right?”

“I… I don’t know," she said silently and crawled back onto the chaise. The two girls looked at each other.

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’!?" Alya exclaimed, causing Marinette to flinch at the accusatory tone in the redhead’s voice.

“Excuse me, but I don’t remember!” she defended herself and held her hands up.

“You said that you did!”

“I mean, yeah... Some things but I was drunk and making out with Adrien! There was so much going on at once that I didn’t focus on that detail!” Both of them stared down at the test, which was lying on top of the pile and looked like it was mocking them.

“I’m sorry, Marinette," Alya started in a serious tone. "But you need to take that test. Now.”


	3. Chapter 3

It had been twenty-five minutes since Alya sent her friend into the bathroom to do the pregnancy test. The lunch break would be over soon and the redhead really needed to get back to school by then. She walked back and forth, then stopped and knocked on the door.

“Mari? Are you okay?” No answer. Alya frowned and gently leaned her ear against the wood. “Marinette?” Things shuffled on the other side and footsteps could be heard before the door opened. Her friend was shaking, her eyes red and swollen and she looked totally shocked.

“Alya... I…" she stammered but the redhead had already wrapped her arms around the small girl. She pulled her into the room and sat Marinette down on the floor while reaching for some toilet paper so that she could clear her nose. The pregnancy test laid inside the sink, two red stripes clearly visible as Alya sighed.

“It’s going to be alright, Mari." she whispered. "I know that talking to him is not something that you would like to do now but I think you really should tell him.” Marinette shook her head.

“He’ll hate me, he will hate me so much!” Her voice was thick as she spoke. “He had his future perfectly planned. I had my future perfectly planned and now… just some weeks away from graduation this happens! I ruined everything!”

“Stop blaming yourself, girl," Alya tried again. "Things like that happen all the time. That is how life goes. And I am sure that he won’t hate you. He might be surprised and confused at first but we both know that he could never ha-”

“Alya?" someone interrupted them and it was clearly Sabine, who was looking for her. The young reporter squeezed her friend’s shoulder and hurried to the door again to see the older woman appear at the bottom of the stairs. Her worried expression turned into a small smile. “Ah, there you are. I just wanted to inform you that your lunch break will be over soon, don’t you have to get back to school?”

Both girls looked at each other and Marinette started to frantically shake her head.

“Uhm, actually… Mari started to feel sick again and I know how busy the bakery is during this time of the day so I might stay a bit longer to look after her?” It was a good excuse but, of course, Sabine Cheng immediately started to worry again.

“Oh, is that so? Can I help you, do you need anything?”

“No!” The abrupt scream of the reporter made Marinette’s mother freeze on the spot and Alya tried to pattle back with a small smile on her face. “I mean, no, that’s not necessary, Madame. She will be feeling better soon, I can totally handle that myself.”

Blue eyes narrowed but Sabine didn’t say another word as she walked downstairs again, saying that she would inform their teachers. Alya let out a deep breath and then walked back into the bathroom.

“Am I right to guess that you still haven’t told your parents about your hook up?" she guessed and the guilty expression on her friend’s face said everything.

“I’m sorry… I’ll tell them as soon as possible… I mean I have to anyway.” Marinette played with her thumbs and blushed. Her friend sat down next to her.

“I think that you are able to handle this conversation with your parents by yourself. More important is that you actually talk with Adrien about that." she said and caused the dark haired girl to hide her face behind her hands.

“Do I have to?”

“You can’t just not talk to him again for two weeks! This is bigger! All I can do for you right now is send him over here after school. What do you say?”

Marinette groaned and Alya took that as an affirmative answer.

 

* * *

 

“Agreste!” Adrien turned his head by the sound of his name and he was surprised to see Alya hurrying towards him. Kagami frowned but excused herself to walk into the changing rooms. “Don’t you dare to move!" Alya said and came to a halt in front of him, finger raised in the air.

“Is it an emergency? I really need to get to my fencing practice.”

“First thing: you won’t continue that after graduation anyway, second thing…. Marinette needs to talk to you.”

“To me?" He asked and pointed to himself. "Why would she need to talk to me?”

“You’ll see,” She said gloomily.

The blonde looked back and forth between the changing room and Alya but sighed in defeat. “Fine... Just why?” The two started to walk out of the school building and made their way to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Alya pinched the bridge of her nose.“Promise me not to freak out after she told you," she stated and crossed the street.

Adrien stared at her for a second.“It must be bad then.”

“It’s not bad. Well… depends on what are your thoughts about that topic.”

“Stop that, you’re frightening me," he chuckled.

Alya, on the other hand, looked anything but amused. She lead him to the side door and opened it with a spare key, gesturing him to be quiet as they walked up the stairs.

Adrien had been to Mari’s house some times now over the past year in which they had become closer friends. The way to her room seemed more than familiar but they haven’t been together in one of their bedrooms since the hook up and for some reason he felt just a bit uncomfortable to enter it. Luckily Alya entered it first and called out to her friend. He blushed lightly while following her.

“Here he is, just like promised. Now should I leave you alone or won’t you be able to hold a conversation on your own?”

Mari was sitting on one of her desk chairs and rolled around. She bite her lip as their eyes met. “No I think we will be fine." she said, not breaking eye contact with Adrien.

The redhead checked them both with some looks, nodded then and climbed downstairs, saying that she’ll wait in the living room. Adrien glanced over her room in silence and put down his bag. Marinette was blushing and abruptly avoiding him. She turned away from him, making room for the boy to sit down on the second chair. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“You wanted to talk to me?" he eventually started. There was something weird hanging in the air and he got the feeling that whatever Marinette wanted to talk about, it had something to do with their night together. He saw her rub her hands against her pants, possibly, to stop them from sweating and after some seconds Adrien grabbed them, stopping her fidgeting. He smiled softly at her “Mari?”

She took some deep breaths. “Adrien I… I need you to promise me that you won’t freak out.”

“Why are you and Alya asking me to not freak out? Is it really that bad?” And suddenly his eyes widened as he moved back a litte. "You’re not sick or anything, are you? Like you don’t have something that is transmitting, right? ”

“What!? No!" She shrieked and blushed while fiddling with her bangs in embarrassment. "Gosh that would be even worse.”

The blonde relaxed a bit. “Well that’s good. What did you want to tell me?”

His soft features and friendly look made it incredibly hard for Marinette to come up with a sentence. She was going to destroy all of that in seconds and she wasn’t ready for it, but it needed to be done anyway. She took another deep breath as she made herself sit straight and Adrien followed every move she made with his eyes. Her hands left his to fumble in her lap.

“You know what happens when… you know… two lovers... I MEAN PEOPLE usually -not regularly- just for fun -not that isn’t right either, um… where was I?" She rubbed her neck. "Oh yeah, um... when two people -just hypothetically-  sleep together?” Her voice went way too high in the end as she glanced at her friend’s confused face.

“Where are you going with that, Marinette?”

“Well um. Okay, I am going to just say it: I might be... um, pregnant?”

He blinked once. Twice. Three times. “What?”

“God dammit, Agreste! She’s pregnant!” The trapdoor opened and Alya appeared again, proving that she had been eavesdropping.

Marinette hissed silently at the sight of her friend and blushed a deep shade of read.

Adrien on the other hand looked between the two girls like they just told him his father would voluntarily throw a party. He met her eyes. “Are you sure?" he asked in a rushed tone.

“I did a pregnancy test some hours ago which came out positive and then I haven’t been in good condition either. Which Alya believes to be due to ‘morning sickness’. ” She was surprised that her voice was clear and that she wasn’t stumbling over her words but maybe it was just her way to not focus on Adrien’s bewildered expression.

“But… It’s only been what? Eight weeks? Can the symptoms show up so soon?”

“Eight to nine weeks." Alya read loudly and turned the test to the boy who was blinking at the object that not only presented him the two red stripes but also the estimated number of weeks. “It totally fits and, believe me, Marinette was not in the mental state to sleep around with other guys.”

“You are making me feel quite uncomfortable right now." Adrien muttered and slipped down in Marinette's chair.

She rubbed her hands on her jeans again. “I am so sorry, really," She said. "But I haven’t told my parents about anything of this yet, not even about that night. I thought that hearing you out first and getting your opinion would be a good start. I don’t expect you to agree with me but I think I already made my decision?” Of course it came out rather unsure since the blonde still was avoiding eye contact, blushing and gripping her chair like his life depended on it.

“What would that decision be?" he asked, finally changing his posture and rubbing his neck. "Do you want to keep… _it_?”

“I don’t think I would be able to go through an abortion,”  She shrank her shoulders warily.

“Agreed,” He said furrowing his brow and heard Alya let out a sigh of relief. Adrien tapped his fingers against his knee. "I mean… we should handle that, right? Things happen, there are multiple people in the world who get confronted with such things on a daily basis. What I want to say is… I am not going to run away.”

Marinette furrowed her dark eyebrows, her eyes looking between her best friend and her crush. Even Alya seemed to be at a loss for words in that moment.

“What do you mean?" Mari questioned then, making him stand up and start pacing through her room.

“I mean that I know this is partly my fault and my responsibility. Running away is not an option. I promised myself to not become as cold and distant to my own children as my own father is. I want to see them grow up and be happy. And since it seems like..." he pointed at the test laying on the desk. "I’ll be getting the opportunity earlier than anticipated, I want to keep up to my promise.” He let himself fall back into his chair again, rolling closer to Marinette and taking her hands in his. “It wouldn’t be fair to leave you alone.” The room was silent for multiple minutes while everyone tried to process what just happened.

The red head was the first to nod in awe. “Wow when my cousin told her boyfriend that she was pregnant he left her but, dang, Agreste, you really live up to your gentleman name." She stated and leaned back with a whistle.

Adrien just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“But… but you had your future planned out and… and what is your father going to say?" Marinette panicked and tried to pull her hair but Adrien stopped her by squeezing her hands.

“That doesn’t matter now, okay? Whatever he’ll say won’t change my mind. You haven’t told your parents yet? Lets focus on them for now.”

 

* * *

 

Tom and Sabine were loving and caring parents who would give everything to support their only daughter. Back when they just moved the business into their current house, running low on money and needing to spend many hours in the kitchen to make a living, it had still been important to them that Marinette was happy and in a close family. Therefor it wasn’t a surprise that the two of them were shocked but at the same time ready to give everything they could to help their child.

They all sat in the living room of the Dupain-Chengs, Tom and Sabine directly across from Marinette and Adrien while Alya had made herself comfortable on the floor.

Sabine put down her cup of tea and looked at her daughter. “You won’t be able to attend university, you know that." she stated. "At least not the special scholarship program. It’s a shame. You’ve been working for it since you discovered ESMOD.”

Marinette knew that tone in her mother's voice. It was disappointment. There were only rare moments in which she had heard it and it made her feel uneasy.

“My father is a close friend to professors and leading people at ESMOD. I could ask him to contact them and explain our situation." Adrien offered after not having said much in the previous conversation, too frightened by the warning looks of Tom Dupain. "The application phase is still going. Maybe they could give Marinette's place to someone else for the fall semester and let her start in the spring one?”

“That wouldn’t be fair." Marinette shook her head. "This is a once in a lifetime chance. Hundred of people are waiting to get a scholarship and to expect the school to switch mine would be rude.”

“It won’t hurt to try, right?" Alya asked and made her friend smile sadly.

Tom sighed and the room fell back into an awkward silence until the oldest of the three present women lifted herself and walked into the kitchen area.

“Well, we can worry about university later. I am going to make an appointment at a doctor for you and we will be having a talk with your principal to excuse you from physical activities.”

“Maman! There are only a couple weeks left, you shouldn’t make a drama.”

“I am not making a drama, Marinette," her mother said in a stern voice, refilling her cup with more tea. "You will be at the end of your first trimester, then. I am trying to protect you.”

Marinette blushed by her mother's words and turned to the blonde next to her.

“Is your father free this weekend or do we need to write him an email to make an appointment?" asked Mari, making Alya snort and Adrien roll his eyes.

“He should be home, I’ll ask Nathalie when I get home.” His expression turned soft as he looked into blue eyes. “You don’t have to be there when I tell him, you know?”

“I want to be.”

“Really? I don’t think that his reaction will be too positive." he warned her again.

Marinette rolled her shoulders. “Didn’t you say that your relationship with your father is better now?”

“It is! He gives me much more freedom but I am not sure how far he’s willing to go.”

 

* * *

 

And so it came that, on the following day, Adrien Agreste stood in front of the big doors that were leading straight into the office of an international fashion mastermind.

“Are you sure that you want to be here?" asked Plagg and peaked out of the blonde’s shirt.

“Let’s get that over with." He said while knocking on the sturdy door.

After a moment with no answer, he gently pushed it open to reveal a room that he barely got to see. For his friend, Marinette, it might have been a dream come true to step into the holy halls of Gabriel Agreste’s office. Some meters away from him stood the tall man himself, lifting his grey eyebrow at the sight in front of him.

“I didn’t tell you to come in yet," he stated but then pointed him to follow him to his desk. The teenager sat down in the big comfortable chairs, which felt rather intimidating right now, while Adrien's father leaned back in his own. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“I… I have to tell you something important." he started but his father didn’t seemed to be impressed at that.

“You already said that yesterday.”

“Right uh… so I went on a party about two months ago and me and Mari- uh Marinette Dupain-Cheng, that girl that won your derby hat competition once, you know, my friend, we accidently… " He fiddled with his hands, too embarrassed to have a talk about such a topic with his father of all people. "We got intimate and she is having a child now.”

Cold blue eyes focused on a bright red face. “Is it yours?" he asked seriously, making his son nod in silent agreement. "Well…”

“I know that letting me go to uni had already been a big compromise, father, but I promise that I am going to finish my studies, do my job and keep an eye on my… my child. I am willing to do all those things at once. We just ask you for your support on some matters.”

Gabriel took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. He looked at a picture of his wife and sighed. “You are eighteen now, Adrien. You are an adult and I expect you to be able to handle such situations like one," he started. "I am not happy about this. You know that I can’t risk having my son involved in a scandal as long as he is the face of the company.”

“I understand." Adrien nodded. “There is also an issue with Marinette’s scholarship program at ESMOD. She won’t be able to attend it since it starts in twelve weeks and she would be halfway into the pregnancy then. I was thinking that you could maybe get in contact with professor Declair?”

“I’ll see what I can do. Please, invite Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng and her family over for a future dinner. I’d like to make some conditions clear.”

Adrien nodded silently and looked around the room. That couldn’t have been it already, but he waited for a lecture that never came. Instead he followed his father’s steps around the room with his eyes until the man turned around.

“You should move out." Gabriel said not even moving a brow.

Adrien blinked a couple times, thinking he must have heard it wrong. “I… what?”

“Like I already said, you are an adult now. You have been living in this house for your whole life and since everything seems to change for you right now, I think getting your own place to stay and make a living would be a great way for you to learn how to handle those changes.” Was his father kicking him out right now?

“Oh God, this is about me sneaking out of the house for the party _and_ getting Marinette pregnant, right?" Adrien almost choked but his questions were ignored.

“Nathalie will be helping you to look for an apartment, flat or whatever you prefer. Maybe you can get something close to your university?" Gabriel moved back behind his desk. "Think of it as a late birthday present. It’s time that you get out of here, you have been wanting that for a while now, anyway.”

The look that he was giving Adrien was completely smug and made the boy turn red in shame. Of course he’d always wanted to get out of the mansion but he would lose a safety net while doing so. His father was well aware of that and even though he didn’t act like it, he just gave Adrien a punishment that was a gift and a burden at the same time.

“My father kicked me out." Adrien whispered to himself and Plagg snickered. "I can’t believe that my _father_ kicked me _out_!”

“Homeless, young and on the verge of becoming a dad, good job kid.”

“Shut up, Plagg.”

 

* * *

 

Monday was an anxious day for both Marinette and Adrien. During lunch break they had an appointment with their principal and madame Bustier. The two were surprised that sweet and shy Marinette, the class president who couldn’t even talk to the blonde model in the beginning, was suddenly having a child with said blonde model. Other classmates and students were curious about Sabine Cheng’s visits but only Alya and Nino knew what was going on.

After school, the Gorilla picked the two up and drove them straight to the doctor were Marinette broke out in a fistfull of tears right during the ultrasound because suddenly this wasn’t just two red stripes on a pregnancy test anymore, this was a picture of whatever was growing in her belly and it made her freak out in more than just one way.

The middle aged woman had just smiled at Mari and told her that she knew this reaction but that things were going to be alright. Adrien on the other hand had smiled down at the black and grey picture and even though he couldn’t make out anything he seemed excited and happy. She didn’t told him about her breakdown, quite relieved that she decided to go alone into the room that day.

“Tikki?" Marinette called for her Kwami as she put down the book about ‘The right nutrition during pregnancy’ (one of several books her father had bought her). The red god appeared from her pillow nest and sat down in one of her chosens hands. “Did something like this ever happen before? How did previous Ladybugs handle such things?”

“Well…" Tikki started and tapped against her head with her little paw. "It didn’t happen often that young Ladybugs had children, most of my chosen decided to start a family long after they defeated their enemies.” Marinette sighed and Tikki gave her an apologizing look. “Every Miraculous holder is different. I am learning with you here, Mari.”

“I should tell Chat, shouldn’t I? I mean he deserves to know why I decide to leave for a while.”

“So you already made that decision?” Marinette nodded and pushed her hair back behind her ear. It hadn’t been an easy one but it was more than necessary.

“That’s good. You’re making the right choice, the child and your health are more important. And, who knows, maybe Hawk Moth decides to take a break too.”

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Why would he?”

Tikki flew up in front of her face. “He is after both your Miraculous. To fight Chat on his own won’t get him anyway, especially when you disappear for a longer amount of time. Even if he would get his ring it would mean that he still needs to wait for you to confront him what could take a while.”

The girl sighed. “Are you sure that he is so patient to wait for me?”

“Okay, he could use that time to come up with some epic plan, too.” Tikki giggled and Mari used that to get off her bed and transform.

The night was warm and the sky was clear. She tried to be as careful while swinging around as possible. At their usual meating spot on top of an older building sat Chat Noir, already waiting for his partner to arrive. His blonde hair moved from the soft breeze and she treasured that sight for a short moment, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to see it for a few months before stepping out of the shadows.

“Hey there, kitty cat." she greeted and sat down beside him.

“My Lady, what a pleasure to see you on this lovely June night.”

She groaned at his over dramatic bow what almost sent him flying from the roof.

He shot her a bright smile. “Ready to chase danger?”

“I need to talk to you after patrol." she stated what made her partner look curious.

He leaned his head a bit to the right, cat ears perking up. “Is it about me jumping in front of that akuma some days ago?”

Ladybug pinched the bridge of her nose. “Actually, no, it wasn’t but since you mentioned it…”

Chat wiggled his eyebrows, what made the spotted superhero stand up and start their patrol. The two of them went their usual round, jumping from building to building and looking out for any kind of crime but it was a quiet night and it ended on the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Ladybug took a deep breath. Paris at night and Paris from all the way up here was something that she came to love during her time as a miraculous holder. It was something calming and exciting at the same time, she couldn’t really explain it.

Chat caught on her sad behavior. “Why the long face, LB?" he asked while moving closer to her. "Anything bothering you? Are you really so mad at me for trying to protect you?”

She shifted in her place to get eye contact with her partner. “You need to stop doing that! We are partners, I am not any more worthy than you are but you don’t seem to understand that." She said in a stern tone. "I need you to be careful, especially since I am going to leave for a while.”

“I underst- Wait... you are going to leave?” His expression turned worried and he fiddled with his thumbs. “Are you going to study abroad or something?”

“No, don’t worry. I won’t leave the country. I won’t even leave Paris. it’s just… there are some personal things I need to take care of for a while." She took a deep breath. "And I want to be honest with you about this. So...I need to take a break because I am having a child.” That got her partner completely off-guard, making him crawl backwards, almost missing the thin steel beam they were currently sitting on. Ladybug immediately reacted and grabbed his arm to stop him from falling.

“What the heck!" he called out in surprise. Why did it seem like everyone in this damn city was getting pregnant, right now? “But I thought that you were still in school, weren’t you? Oh God, you are a teen mom!”

“I am!" She said desperate. "I just discovered it recently and I won’t give it up, either. _Plus_ the whole ‘saving Paris’ thing is kind of stressing me out right now, so, please, listen to me!” Chat was about to say something else but Ladybug lifted her hand to silence him. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, then focused back on her partner. “Chat… I really didn’t plan on this happening and leaving my spot as Ladybug had been a decision I tried to avoid but it’s just not possible. No one in my family knows my secret identity, not even the father and how would I be able to explain the situation to them? They would never leave me out of the house again because I know that they care for me. Please, understand that this has to be done but it doesn’t mean that I will be gone forever. I’ll come back, I promise.”

That seemed to calm the cat-like man in front of her and he let out a long breath. Silence filled the space between them as they were both in their own thoughts. Chat Noir shook his head, his blonde hair falling around his face.

“But how will we be able to purify akumas in the future… while you are gone?" he asked and it was a good question.

She gently tapped her finger against her lips in concentration. “Honestly? I don’t know, yet but I could arrange a meeting with master Fu and talk to him about that, maybe he knows a good solution?" she said after giving it a quick thought. "Actually, I think that you should tell the media that I’ll be gone, too... Maybe call a press conference? For some funny reasons my kwami thinks that Hawk Moth will be taking a break as long as I am away.”

Her cat-like partner furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head. “Why would he?”

Ladybug giggled, since she asked the exact same thing only about an hour ago. “She said that it would be useless for him to fight against you alone or something. Who knows, maybe she’s actually right.”

“That would be perfect," the boy next to her admitted. His legs swinged back and forth as he looked over the city of Paris.

She knew that expression. He was thinking about something and while she always had been curious about what was on her partner’s mind, she never really had the guts to ask him. It was almost funny how close the both of them had become during their time as a duo but how little they _actually_ knew about each other.

A small smile crept up on his lips. “One of my friends got pregnant, too, you know?" He said and looked at Ladybug. "Maybe you guys will see each other during birth preparation.”

“Will you be there too if I say that could be a possibility?”

Blonde eyebrows wiggled in her direction. “Why do you ask, My Lady? Afraid to show me your baby bump?" He flicked his hair out of his face. "Don’t worry, you’ll always be the most beautiful woman for me.”

Groaning and laughter filled the air over the parisian rooftops as the night came to an end.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say that I do have a beta reader now! This and previous chapter aren't edited yet but will be in the following days. I am very thankful for the additional help and all your feedback!


	4. Chapter 4

Thursday had turned out to be one of the warmest days of the year yet, not unlikely for the middle of June. The students of Lycée Francois Dupont finally had their grades. Luckily all of them made it and the only big thing left was the graduation ceremony in a week.

Marinette leaned back on the park bench and enjoyed the warmth while waiting with Nino for Alya, who was currently at Chat Noir’s press conference, and Adrien. She was wondering if her kitty had received his grades already. Maybe she could make up an excuse and hurry over to him. Nino interrupted her train of thoughts.

“Thanks to Adrien I always get recommendations for baby book when I open my browser. I’ll never let him use my phone again,” The boy laughed and took a sip from his drink. Marinette cracked an eye open to look at her childhood friend and stretched lazily in the sun. “You should see his desk! I honestly ask myself how he can tell which ones he already owns!”

“Don’t question it,” she simply answered, “He’s trying to be a good father and I appreciate his support.”

“That’s true. Some guys would probably run away from their responsibility but the dude really just goes full into it.”

“I am glad,” was the only thing she said while growing more and more tired in the soft afternoon sun. The morning had been filled with nerve wracking excitement but now that school was officially over she could finally relax.

“Hey, you already went to the ultrasound thingy, right? Do you have a picture?”

Marinette’s eyes snapped open as a shadow appeared over her. She hadn’t even realized how the boy had shifted his position from standing behind the bench to propping his arms on each side of her head. His head was right between her and the warmth. With a silent growl she lifted herself up and pulled out her wallet with the object of his demand.

Nino looked down at it with an interested expression, one of his hands cupping his chin gently.

Mari smirked. “You don’t see anything, right?”

“Yeah, you got me there.”

She laughed gently and pushed her hair out of her face. “It took me almost two days to understand what the doctor showed me so don’t worry, not even I am capable of seeing it.”

Nino was about to say something just as a new shadow appeared before them, now shielding them completely from the sun. As they looked up, they came face to face with no other than Chloé Bourgeois, dressed in her best black designer pants and a yellow-white striped shirt that was barely visible under the leather jacket she might have stolen from her boyfriend. Pink gum formed a bubble as she continued to stare at the two friends.

“Chloé,” Marinette started the conversation. “Can we help you with something?”

The blonde didn’t move at all, instead, she fixed her gaze on the half chinese girl, looking like she could kill her.

Nino felt that too and instantly rounded the bench to protect his best friend.“Seriously, Chloé, just say it if you have a problem and stop acting weird. Now, is there something you’d like to talk about?”

“Oh yes, I would _love_ to talk about some things with Marinette. One of them is the fact that she is a cruel liar,” she finally stated, still not changing her position but the anger could be felt miles away.

“What the hell do you mean?” Nino questioned with a confused expression and the blonde in front of him looked at her fingernails.

“Nothing big… ugh, of course, it’s something big!” she rounded the boy to angrily point a finger at Marinette. “How dare you spread rumors about my poor Adrikins!? Are you using his obliviousness? And you call yourself his _friend_!”

Marinette blinked at the other girl in confusion. It had been a miracle but for some reason, Chloé had become calmer over the years and she kept her nose out of other people's lives since she got into her own relationship so her sudden outburst was something completely irritating.

“I honestly don’t know what you are talking about,” she said, furrowing her brow.

“Why the hell are you spreading lies about being pregnant with Adrien’s child!?” She spat, throwing her hands up in the air.

Nino stood straight in alert and Marinette blushed hard.

Chloé didn’t seem to care about their reactions. “It’s because his father is a fashion designer, right? You just want attention from him. You can’t get your crush to date you so you’re spreading lies to make him stay with you.”

The bluenette was burning by now and she shot up from the bench to stand right in front of Chloé. “Well, it’s not a lie! And why would you even care? It’s not like you are dating Adrien.”

“At least I didn’t have to pretend to be pregnant to get a boyfriend!” The two girls stared at each other and the blonde smirked at Marinette’s loss for words. “And don’t you think he would have told me if you the whole thing was true? We are childhood friends!”

Nino rubbed his temples and tried to calm the girls down. He couldn’t deal with one of their fights. “I am sure that Adrien had his reasons for not telling you, yet, Chloé. It’s his and Mari’s decision to share such news or keep them hidden,” he said but the blonde just ignored him.

“Oh, really?” she said while locking her gaze with Marinette’s. “Almost the whole school knows it and you want to tell me that they were trying to keep it hidden!? Such a bull-”

“What is going on here?” A hand grabbed Chloé’s shoulder and another rested on Marinette's as they were pushed apart from each other as Adrien suddenly stood in between them. He looked back and forth, from Chloé to Nino to Marinette and his eyebrows furrowed together.

“Adrikins! Good that you arrived at the right time. I was just about to tell Dupain-Cheng to stop spreading rumors about you.”

“About me?” It made the boy even more confused as he tried to get a hold of the situation.

“Yes! That liar is literally trying to get to you by telling everyone that she is pregnant. Ridiculous, isn’t it?” The boy took a step back and sheepishly rubbed his neck while avoiding the mayor's daughter’s eyes.

“Actually, Chlo…” he started and made sure to look over at Marinette who gestured for him to continue but that wasn’t necessary anymore since the other girl already got the point.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “No.”

“I wanted to tell you sooner, I promise. But so many things happened lately that I just forgot. I am sorry, Chloé, really but maybe you could have talked about it with me first before confronting Marinette so harshly.”

Chloé was furious as she stomped her feet in frustration. “I expected more of our friendship, Adrien!”, she spat. She turned around, one hand in the air. “One week. Seven days, and I won’t have to see any of you ever again!”  


* * *

 

 

Marinette felt more than depressed while her mother helped her get into the dress she made especially for her graduation. Who could have expected that she would get pregnant three months before it? The light flower details she added on the upper part hid her little bump so it wasn’t that visible from afar but now that she stood only a few meters away from her mirror it looked bigger than she liked it.

“You should wear your flat shoes,” Sabine mentioned silently while pinning her daughter's hair back. “And sit down whenever you feel like it. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.”

“I will be fine, don’t worry, Maman,” she answered and sighed. “Are you sure that you and Papa aren’t mad at me for becoming pregnant when I’m not even eighteen?”

Her mother didn’t reply right away as she continued to fiddle with a black strand. She was thinking about what to say.

“I am not mad at you, sweetheart,” the older woman sighed and rounded Marinette. “In the end, I can’t change what happened. My side of the family believes in fate and that everything happens for a reason. I am going to put my trust into the fact that even your current situation must have been a twist of destiny, planned and coordinated by the universe itself.” She gently cupped her little girl’s cheeks. “Marinette, wherever this adventure might lead you, your father and I will always be here to love and support you.”

Her eyes started to water up and for the first time in a while, she didn’t blame it on her growing hormones. “Thanks, Maman, I love you.”

Sabine laughed gently and wrapped her arms around her only child in a warm hug. The two of them stood like that for some moments until the trapdoor to Marinette's room suddenly opened and revealed none other than Tom Dupain, followed by Alya and Adrien.

“See there, see there if it isn’t my beautiful daughter!” the baker announced loudly and joined the hug immediately. “Let me get a closer look at you.” he appraised his child from head to toe, “Like the grown up woman that she is!”

Marinette giggled at that compliment and sneaked her way out of her parents’ embrace to greet her other friends.

“He’s right, you know?” said the reporter, who wore a tight black dress with a small orange belt around her middle. Alya looked so tall in her heels and short clothing.

“You don’t look bad yourself. I wonder who helped you pick out that outfit.” The girls smiled knowingly at each other and Mari turned to say hi to Adrien but as soon as she laid eyes on him, her breathing stopped.

There he stood. A white dress shirt and black pants, combined with a simple jacket and a dark green tie. It was one of the simplest but stylish looks she had ever seen but what else did she expect from a fashion designer’s son. What made her stop in awe was actually not his clothes but rather his hair, which had been pulled back with hair gel. The boy noticed her staring.

“Don’t ask about what happened here,” he stated while pointing to his head. “Don’t really know what was on my father's assistants minds.”

“It does look weird,” Alya commented and crooked her hips. “Give me an hour or more and I’ll eventually get used to it.”

Her best friend giggled to Adrien’s annoyance who was visibly distressed about the whole thing. Mari finally collected herself and grabbed the brush from her desk.

“We still have a lot of time before we need to go over to the school, so if you like we could try to get the gel out of your hair?”

-

Alya pinched her friend in the side as their principal called Adrien on the stage to give him his graduation paper and they both smiled proudly at his hair. Somehow they had managed to free it from hair gel and it ended in big fluffy blonde curls. After brushing them out of his face, he looked not like the supermodel he was, but young and fresh and like the eighteen-year-old boy that he was supposed to be.

Nino clapped as loud as possible as his best bud smiled brightly at the crowd, his perfect grades tightly held in his hand. Marinette grabbed her friend’s hand as realisation hit her.

This was it.

This was their final act as students, as innocent children. Now they would need to find their own ways and solve problems that are much bigger than a hard question in math. And there she sat, in the second row, surrounded by classmates, teachers and family members who were whipping their eyes.

For the first time in her life, the way to her future seemed uncertain. But to have an upcoming journalist, hobby dj and physics nerd/ model by her side made things already look better and she squeezed her friend’s hand again as Alya got called up. Her fingers played with the fabric of her pink-white dress and then gently traced over the little bump that contained her _baby._ A being that would demand all of her attention from now own. A being which she had to be responsible for, not that Marinette couldn’t be that but it still felt scary. And as Madame Bustier finally spoke the words ‘Dupain-Cheng, Marinette’ into the microphone, she closed her eyes and silently counted to three.

Time felt painfully slow while she shook everybody's hands and smiled gratefully at the little present and her graduation paper the principal handed over to her.

As she looked ahead to take a picture to immortalize that moment, it suddenly hit her. This…

… was it.

 

And just like that, in a flash, her life as she knew it ended and a new stage was beginning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -End Of Part One-
> 
> I usually planned this chapter to be the first one of part two but came to the decision that this ending was more fitting.  
> Part two will start next week, just as planned! ^^


	5. Chapter 5

**-Part Two, The Waiting Game-**

Adrien woke exactly at 6 am. He snapped his eyes open and stared at the ceiling. The first thing that flattered through his head was the fact that he was officially out of school now, fastly followed by  _ oh my god I am out of school _ . Thoughts about the conversation with his father came to his mind and he slammed his arms over his eyes with a loud groan.

“Hey, before you start to complain could you give me a piece of cheese?”

The boy groaned again. “Good morning to you, too, Plagg.” Against his will, he lifted himself off the bed and waddled over to his computer setup, bringing the screens back to life by tapping on a random letter on the keyboard. The website with available flats in Paris was still opened. Adrien lay his head onto his folded arms on the desk and sighed. “I can’t believe that my father is expecting me to be moved out by next month.”

“Yeah, I know, horrible thing. You haven’t talked about anything else in days!” The black kwami floated around the room. “Even though I totally can not understand why this is such a bad thing! Remember the times when you sneaked out of here to be Chat Noir? Because I do! And with an own place, you could transform without needing to hide or break out. Oh, and you could invite your girlfriend over more often.” 

Adrien blushed. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“She’s having your kitten.”

“Not the point.”, he extended his arms and rolled back with his chair while stretching. “The point is that I never lived on my own, heck, I don’t even know how to cook Spaghetti! It makes me feel unsure and not ready to be a father yet but I promised Marinette to stay and I won’t leave the child for anything in the world anyway.”

“Well, I can’t help you with that.” Both kwami and holder rolled their eyes at the same time.

“Can I just say that, since I met you, Plagg, you’ve been such an important influence on me and you supported me with everything? I totally don’t know how to thank you.”, Adrien asked with pure sarcasm in his voice as he stood up and looked for clothes to wear.

“No problem, kid, what about some cheese now?” Without another comment, Adrien grabbed his phone and was surprised to see Marinette’s name on the screen. She was texting him a lot lately, not that he complained. He knew that she had trouble sleeping and he tried to comfort her during late night conversations. It was one of some things he was able to do for her.

 

> >>I’ve got another ultrasound appointment coming up on Thursday. Would you like to join?<<

 

He rubbed his chin gently.

 

> >Of course, I would! Just send me the details?<

 

“I have a meeting for a flat visiting on Thursday too…. maybe I should invite Mari?”, he mumbled to himself but Plagg had already heard it.

“Why would you?”

“It’s always good to have a second opinion, you know?”

“Well looks like you care a lot about what she thinks even though she is is not your girlfriend.” The kwami laughed and Adrien groaned.

“Honestly, why am I even sticking around with you?”, the blonde asked frustrated while typing the question for Marinette, “It’s so boring since Ladybug started her break, it almost seems like nothing is going on anymore.” He froze. 

The little black god flew up next to his face and looked at him with lidded eyes. “What?”

“There haven't been any akumas since Ladybug left.”, he stated, the realization just hitting him. “How is that even possible? Hawk Moth never took more than three or four days for a new attack.” He walked through his room, phone clutched in his hands. With big steps, he approached his computer and opened the Ladyblog but it just confirmed his theory.

The last akuma attack had been two days before Ladybug told him that she was pregnant and he literally announced her break to the press just a few days after that, the related post was pinned on top of the page. 

Adrien shook his head. “Could it really be that LB was right and our butterfly villain takes a break too?”

“Maybe.”, Plagg agreed and sat down on the desk, “Using a miraculous against its original task, what is to fight against evil, can be really exhausting for holder and kwami. It also felt like his powers were beginning to weaken for a while now. Taking a break while the Ladybug miraculous is inactive anyway could help him regain his strength so I can see why he stays out of the spotlight right now.” Blonde eyebrows furrowed together.

“Do you think that he will plan something big for his comeback then?” The god shrugged his little black shoulders, not giving a specific answer. His phone vibrated.

 

> >>The family dinner at your place is on Thursday, too, right?<<

 

“Plagg! Why are there so many things on Thursday!?”

“I am not making your plans.” The blonde sighed while finally grabbing some clothes to wear and entering the bathroom.

 

* * *

 

He always was amazed by the ultrasound pictures. To see what was supposed to be his  _ child _ one days grow larger and larger with each new month. It also was his first time sitting right next to Marinette during the whole process since she had been too embarrassed during the previous ones. Her belly was now clearly visible and whatever doubts any one of them had before were now crushed. With a happy smile, he looked down at the picture, grabbing the subway pole with the other hand. He looked up to share his grin with Mari just to see her looking out of the windows with a blank expression. 

“Hey, why the long face?” 

His friend sighed. “I still haven’t really come to terms with the fact that I am not just getting fat but also have a living being inside of me.”, she said and shook her head, “I- I mean not that this is a bad thing it’s just…. ugh, just.. nevermind.” His eyebrows furrowed as he watched the dark-haired girl curl into herself, one arm holding her front. Of course, Adrien wanted to continue this conversation but he had to wait since their final stop was already reached.

The awkward silence stayed between them all the way to the living complex that would hold his, hopefully, future flat. The blonde had chosen it thoughtfully. The building wasn’t too far away from his uni and the bakery so that he could still stay in contact with his future family. The landlord was a younger woman, maybe in her thirties and her short red hair almost reminded him of Sabrina and he made a mental note to check on Chloé too, since the blonde had refused to talk to him, knowing the current state of Marinette.

The walk through the flat was filled with awkward stammering since the kind lady mistook the young adults for a couple. It took him some minutes to understand why Marinette had been blushing to the tip of her ears until he fully registered what the conversation was about and stepped back, held his hands up and announced: “We are just friends.”

Still, both of them liked the flat. In the end, Adrien decided to have a closer look at the contract and the woman nodded, saying that she would send it over to him as an email later.

“Is your father in a good mood today?”, Mari asked shyly as they sat in his car on the way to the mansion.

“Believe me, it doesn’t matter if he had a good day or not. He will be all business, just don’t try to make him angry or anything.”, Adrien answered honestly, “But… he changed in the past years. If he really disapproved of the situation he would have locked me into my room and forbid our communication weeks ago.”

“Well, you are eighteen. He doesn’t exactly have the right to keep you as a prisoner anymore.” A low chuckle escaped the blonde’s lips at that and he shot his friend a reassuring smile which she replied.

“Don’t worry, Mari.” The car turned and drove through the big gate. Tom and Sabine already arrived, looking formal but not too over the top. He never saw the tall baker dressed up like that before and it made him compliment the look as he greeted the Dupain-Chengs.  Nathalie, present as always, guided the small family through the house and around for a while so that the young boy could slip into his room to freshen up.

“You take that dinner much too serious.”, Plagg commented as his chosen buttoned up a white dress shirt. Green eyes fixed on the cat, then back to his reflection.

“I need to leave a good impression. They should know that I take this _ whole thing _ seriously.”

“I’ll quote you for a second: ‘She is not my girlfriend’.” Adrien didn’t have the time to discuss with the stubborn kwami and left the bedroom as soon as he was finished. Everyone had already gathered in the dining hall, standing next to the large table since sitting would probably be too unpolite.

“Your house is lovely, Adrien, and so big too.”, Sabine smiled and he didn’t know if she was just lying to make him feel more comfortable.

“It’s because the Agreste are ridiculous tall people.”, said Marinette and he smiled. She said something similar back when Nino complained about the ‘large bookcases on his second floor no normal human being was able to reach’. They stilled as Gabriel entered the room, tall and intimidating as always. He rounded the table to come to a halt right next to them.

“I am glad that we finally have the chance to formally meet, monsieur Agreste.”, Sabine started and hold out her hand.

“The pleasure is all mine.”, Gabriel answered, “I hope you don’t mind but I already ordered our chef to prepare a dinner.” The meeting didn’t feel anything like the supposed-to-be family dinner. Marinette was blushing lightly while her father told an old story about how he founded the bakery and as she looked up to meet Adrien's eyes he smiled reassuring at her. The girl sighed and shrugged, then continued to eat her salad.

“We are happy that Adrien decided to stay and be there for the baby, you really raised him well.”, Tom ended his speech, approaching the topic. Gabriel Agreste took a sip from his drink and nodded to the family portrait on the wall.

“My wife played the most important role in his education.”, he stated, “But let's focus on why we are here today and make some agreements.”

 

* * *

 

The dinner wasn’t pleasant at all. It had been stiff and awkward as the parents agreed on rules and legal things, trying to get their children to understand what was coming towards them. Adrien never expected that having a kid would be easy but the several appointments he and Mari had to attend in the following months already sounded exhausting. And both sides of the families agreed to let their children go to different birth and parenting preparation courses.

After the Dupain-Cheng's left, the blonde stumbled into his bedroom and transformed for his usual patrol. He also never thought that being Chat Noir could be boring.

Of course, there had been times where Ladybug missed one patrol but she always showed up a few days later with an excuse like ‘I fell asleep over a bunch of homework’ or ‘my friend wanted to spend the night over at my place’. But it’s been weeks since he last saw her and he felt lonely while jumping over the rooftops. It seemed like she took everything with her. Joking and fooling around was useless without a partner to enjoy it with. Landing on top of a building close to his house, he was just about to leap into the air again as suddenly multiple colours caught the side of his eye. The cat boy stopped in his track to turn around just to spot a familiar balcony across the street.

Marinette looked into the dark sky, a pencil tapping against her lips in a for him unknown rhythm and her sketchbook lay in her lap. She looked cute, wrapped up in a fluffy pink blanket. Chat looked around him, unsure if interrupting anything would be alright, then he rolled his shoulders.

The dark haired female almost jumped at the sound of something hitting her railing and she was too slow to register the baton that extended all the way from the neighbour house to her roof. Chat Noir balanced gracefully over to her.

“See there, see there.”, he announced himself, making her blue eyes shoot up to meet his, “What does a lovely princess like you do out here at such a late hour?” He climbed over the railing to stand right in front of her now. She blinked as he bowed lightly.

“Chat Noir! I wasn’t expecting to see you… Were you on patrol?”, Marinette asked and put her things away to lean further back in her chair.

“Actually, I was, but Paris is as quiet as a sleeping baby.” Oh gosh, why did he say that? By the way her eyes flickered to the side he could clearly see her discomfort. There should be no way that the black cat-themed superhero actually knew about her  _ situation,  _ even though it was already visible _.  _ They only met like this a few times during akumas and even though he had to personally protect her here and there, the two of them couldn’t be considered friends. He looked for an excuse to cover him up. “Uhh you know, since Ladybug is on vacation it’s getting pretty silent around Hawk Moth too.”

“Yeah, I heard. My friend is the founder of the Ladyblog, remember?”

“How could I forget?” Soft giggle escaped her mouth by his silly eyeroll and he leaned back, putting his arms on top of the metal behind him. Green eyes followed her figure as she lifted herself up and stretched. Her feet gently tapped against the floor as she came to a halt next to him.

“Are you…. are you feeling lonely, Chat?”, she asked silently, looking over the city with just barely visible pink cheeks.

“To be honest? A bit, yes.”, he answered and rubbed the back of his neck, “It’s nothing bad. I totally understand why she left and all but…. being the only one to jump over the rooftops isn’t that fun.”

“She probably misses it, too.” He glanced to his side and caught Marinette's side profile as she still focused on the city with a longing expression. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, With a cocky grin, he turned to her.

“I totally forgot to congratulate you to your pregnancy!”, he smiled to finally approach the topic and she blushed deeper.

“How do you even know about it?”

“Kind of obvious, isn't it?” Her hand covered her round stomach as he nodded down to it. The smile on the blondes face faltered as he noticed her lack of reaction. “Is there something wrong?” 

She pushed some hair out of her face and sighed.  “There is… It’s just…. I am scared, Chat.” The confession made his cat ears drop and he looked away. “I mean, yes, I made the decision of having the child now but what if I am not good enough to be a mother? I just got out of school, don’t have a job and have to rely on my parents. I am clumsy and can’t walk without stumbling. What… what I’ve been trying to say is that… how am I supposed to care for a baby when I can’t even care about myself yet?” Her eyes had started to become wet and her left hand whipped the tears away gently. 

He felt unsure about what to say and how to respond.  “Did you talk about that with the father?” He knew that she didn’t… After all, Adrien was just hiding under Chat Noir’s mask. Her lack of response answered his question and he lifted one of his arms to rub the back of his neck, blonde hair falling over his eyes by doing so. “You should talk to him. I am sure that you guys will be able to come up with a solution if you just  _ talk _ .” Talking had solved a lot of their problems so far.

“I like him, Chat. I like him a lot and don’t want to lose him and I have the feeling that I would risk his patients by complaining too much.”, Marinette said, still trying to brush her emotional outburst away, “He deserves so much better anyway.” Chat took a deep breath and climbed from his spot on the railing to stand in front of her, his feets left and right from hers as the only barrier between them was the cold metal.

“Don’t be afraid, Marinette, there is no reason for you to worry. Trust me, he would still stick around even if you’d whine to him till his ears bleed.” The disgusted frown on his friends face made him laugh gently.

“How can you be so sure?” A smile broke out on his pretty face and he literally glowed at her.

“If I were the father, I would stay no matter what. It doesn’t matter if he deserves better. What matters is that he has that great opportunity to have a  _ child _ , to be a  _ father _ . Leaving would lead him to throw away the best thing to ever happen in his life.” The confused look Marinette gave him made him squeeze her shoulders with his hands softly. They shared looks for several moments, simply progressing the said things. 

The dark haired female giggled softly.  “Thank you, Chat, I’ll try to take your advice and talk with him.”, she said in a confident tone and he was happy to see the old Marinette coming back to life.

“That’s the spirit, ‘Princess!” The superhero grabbed his baton and extended it to the ground, motioning a salute towards her, “It’s getting late, but I’ll see you around!”

The cat jumped into the night and made his way home, not knowing that he would come to visit his friend more often in the future than he would have suspected.

 

* * *

 

> >>I am afraid.<<

 

It was the first thing he saw on his phone after detransforming and giving Plagg some cheese. With a soft smile he crawled into bed, ruffled his hair and opened the chat.

 

> >How come?<

 

> >>Hormones?<<
> 
> >>Sounds more like an excuse for my anxiety.<<

 

Adrien frowned.

 

> >You can talk with me about anything...<
> 
> >I won’t just cut contact with you, Mari.<

He saw how three dots appeared on the screen, making him wait with anticipation for her answer.

 

> >>I am glad it had been you.<<
> 
> >>Thank you, Adrien.<<


	6. Chapter 6

“What do you get an eighteen-year-old, pregnant girl for her birthday?” Nino asked and chewed on his sandwich. Alya nibbed on her coffee, looking at Adrien for an answer. He just lifted his hands. “Wow, this could be harder than expected.”

The three of them had gathered together in a little coffee shop to plan Marinette’s birthday party which was only a few days away. As the last one of their group to turn eighteen, they had originally thought about spending the night at a club but that was definitely off the table now.

“I’ll get her a gift card for a spa day because I know that she could use some time to feel comfortable with herself again after giving birth,” Alya stated and leaned back in her chair, looking at the boys.

“Was thinking about getting her baby stuff but I dunno... It feels kind of inappropriate, doesn’t it.” Nino rubbed his temples. “Maybe I should just mix her some music again.”

“I didn’t find anything for her either yet.” the blonde confessed, taking a look at his empty cup. “Nino is right, gifting her with baby things doesn’t feel right… not on her birthday.”

“Not to change the topic but I was just curious if your father already talked to his professor friends? We all start uni in only two weeks and maybe getting some good news about the scholarship program could actually cheer her up.”

“I don’t think so. I am not at the mansion so often anymore.”

“Right, still forget that you are living on your own now, dude!”, Nino interrupted and Adrien hummed silently.

“Still need to pick some things up from my old home… I could ask father about it this afternoon?”, he suggested and Alya pointed a fork in his direction.

“Yes, do that.”

“Okay but that doesn’t help us with planning her party.”, the dark-skinned boy said.

“We are not going to turn her birthday party into an early baby shower, it’ll just depress her more.”, Alya stated and picked a tomato to shove into her mouth. 

Adrien gnawed on his bottom lip while fumbling with his phone. “Marinette had a lot of weird emotions in the past weeks,” he said. “We often text in the evenings and one word can make her mood swing from good to bad.”

“Don’t mention how big her baby bump has become or she’ll start to complain about how embarrassing it is to shop for pregnancy clothes.”

“Guys!”, Nino protested, “You know that this is not getting us anyway right now?”

All three of them sighed at the same time.

 

* * *

 

“Good afternoon, Nathalie.”, Adrien greeted his father's assistant as she unintentionally opened the door for him. The older woman blinked confusedly. Her eyes flickered down to the box in the boy's arms.

“I told you to please inform me before you come here to get your things.” 

He just shrugged his shoulders. “I was close by. Is father home?” Nathalie looked at her tablet and the blonde put down the box on the marble floor of the entrance hall. He put his hand on his hips as he waited for her to check the schedule.

“He should be here in twenty minutes. You can wait in his office if you like.” Her voice didn’t lose the monotone sound it always had and he smiled in her direction.

“Thanks, Nath! Nice outfit you wear today!” She rolled her eyes and made her way into her own room while the boy entered the chaos of Gabriel Agreste’s workspace. The fall fashion week was close and there was a lot of pressure on the big brands as they gave everything to create new trends. Mari had told him that she would have loved to see one of the fancy shows in person one day and not through her computer screen.

Fabric and sketches flattered around the room as Adrien easily came to stand behind his father’s desk. The whole drama of fashion week didn’t affect him anymore but he still felt self-conscious as he reached for the keyboard which was connected to the computer. He never broke into anything in the office before, except for that one time Plagg decided to open that safe behind the painting of his mother.

“Are you going to check if your father helped your  _ not  _ girlfriend or are you going to chicken out?” Thinking of the devil. Plagg looked out of the jacket pocket he stayed in over the day and smirked up at the blonde. “You’re not having much time kid.” Adrien rolled his eyes.

“I have the feeling that I am testing my father’s patience with me here.”, he said, “At first I asked him to stop doing model jobs, then he allowed me to go study what I want  _ and  _ he just barely got over the fact that I am going to be a dad myself.”

“You still agreed to work for his company as the representing face so what is there for him the complaint about?” The look Adrien shot Plagg was a warning. He took a deep breath and finally brought the screen back to life. To his surprise was the computer still on and it wasn’t logged out either. Looking around to check that the room was clear, he sat down in the big rolling chair and opened the email app.

His kwami flew to his shoulder and smirked mischievously. Adrien opened a new draft but continued to stare at the empty page for several minutes.

“How do you start something like this?”, he muttered under his breath and leaned back in the chair, tapping his finger against his lips. As the son of Gabriel, he never had to write such things himself. Often Nathalie took over this job.

_ Dear Madame Declair  _ sounded just a bit too informal. The woman that he sometimes saw at fashion events used to be his father's mentor in university and she helped him built up his company even after graduation. Still, the two couldn’t be labeled as friends.

_ Madame Declair  _ was his second try and he decided to stick with that for now.

 

_ Madame Declair. _

_ You might have noticed that Mademoiselle Marinette Dupain-Cheng withdrew her application for the scholarship program starting this autumn semester. -  _ He wanted to cringe at what he was writing. -  _ Therefore, I would not be surprised if you already gave the open spot -  _ did that sound too casual? -  _ to another applicant. I want to ask you to consider keeping her as a possible candidate for the next year. Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng is a very ambitious person and has a lot of potential talent. Due to private issues, she had to cancel your agreement. _

 

Adrien was so into typing that he didn’t even hear the door to the office open and just as Plagg hid inside his jacket he lifted his head. The blonde almost jumped backwards, nearly falling off the chair by the look of his father in the doorway. Gabriel had a book in one of his hands as he stared at Adrien for some second.

“Adrien.” he said, nodding to the boy “Is there a specific reason why you are breaking into my computer?”

“Breaking into your computer? Me?” a hysterical fake laugh escaped his lips and he threw his hands on his mouth, knowing that he had been caught. Gabriel walked over to him in long steps and came to a halt right next to him, looking at what his son had been writing. 

He lifted his hand and took his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Adrien, I know that you just want to help your  _ friend _ , but you could have talked about that with me instead of faking my writing.”

“I am sorry.” he rubbed the back of his neck “Mari hasn’t been happy about the fact that she had to cancel her scholarship and I just… I feel like as long as I do have the option to help her, I’ll try to do my best.” The tall man lifted an eyebrow and sat down in his chair. He read through the text again, deleted and added sentences until he was finished, adding his signature with the stylus.

“I hope that you are happy now.”, muttered the older one. His expression turned softer as he looked at his son. “How is your baby doing?”

Adrien blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s doing fine. The doctors said that we might be able to identify the gender during the next sessions. I do have a current picture with me if you would like to see it?”

The unfamiliar expression on his father’s face made him feel unsure as he placed the black and white object on the table. Gabriel nodded.

“You are doing a good job. I hope that you will be able to keep up while attending university.”

“I hope so too.” The two men said their goodbyes and Adrien left. Luckily, the Gorilla had always been there for him when the young adult needed a helping hand with his move. They lifted the two boxes from his old home up the stairs to the new flat. Some minutes later, Adrien found himself alone in the living room, Plagg sitting on the floor.

“I think it’s really funny how you have to sleep on an air mattress.” the kwami teased as Adrien pulled out the framed pictures of his mother and friends.

“Remind me to ask Nino if he could help me with moving my bed here.” The flat came with a kitchen inclusive, what was all he needed for now but there were only so many nights he could sleep on the floor without waking up with pain in his back. “Do you thing Ladybug is doing well?”

The kwami shrugged his small shoulders. “Probably. She is most likely not doing better than pigtails.” Adrien rolled his eyes at the nickname. Marinette hadn’t been wearing her twin tales too often anymore and while it was still her familiar hairstyle, she definitely didn’t shy away from trying other ones too.

“It’s almost time for patrol.” the blonde announced, making the black cat moan in annoyance.

“Adrien stop calling it patrol when you spend half of the time at pigtails house!” Adrien didn’t even try to pick up a fight and called for his transformation.

Marinette had made it a habit to spend her evenings on her rooftop, sketching the sky or little birds. Sometimes she even presented her environment drawings to him, what had caused him the ask about her passion for fashion design the first time.

“I am not feeling the need to make or design clothes.” she had answered and it had made him frown. It seemed like Marinette was lacking creativity since she was pregnant but she always stated that it was because of her mood changes instead of the lost chance of going to uni.

Adrien had used multiple excuses to stay with his friend as Chat Noir and tonight wasn’t supposed to be anything different.

“Good evening, Princess!”, he greeted and landed next to her on the metal railing. Her smile was welcoming as she offered him a piece of her late night snack. The self-made chocolate cake tasted delicious.

“You are early today.”, the dark haired female commented. “Nothing special going on in your superhero life?”

“No joke, I feel as useless as a stone in the water.” He leaned his head on top of Marinette’s sunchair, almost looking like a real cat as he watched every single one of her moves. “How’s the baby?”

“Good I guess.”

“You guess?”

Marinette looked unsure by his question and she tried to find a more comfortable position. “I read in many books that the mothers are supposed to feel the child moving around the fifth or sixth month. And here I am, not feeling anything at all.” The frustration in her voice made him frown.

“I am sure that you’ll be able to feel the baby move soon. Give it some time.”, Chat suggested, but it only made her curl into herself more.

“I’m really trying to be patient, Chaton. but what if I’ll never be able to feel it? Or what if I feel it and don’t develop any motherly feelings for..  _ it _ .” Adrien had trouble to understand Marinette’s panic attacks. Alya, on the other hand, had claimed them as usual things which apparently popped up whenever she felt nervous.

Chat scratched little lines into the wood of her chair with his claws while thinking about an answer. “I think that you are totally overreacting,” he stated after a second.

Marinette blinked at him. “Overreacting?”

“Yes.” the blonde rolled his shoulders, “Don’t be afraid of the _ what if’s.  _ You have so many people around you that are here to help and support you with every step.” A black leather cladded hand squeezed her shoulder. “There are your parents, your friends, the father and you can always count on me, too. Marinette, to not feel ready to be a parent is fine, but to just see the bad things that could come isn’t getting you anywhere. You are strong and kind and confident, therefore I ask myself where all this unnecessary doubt in yourself comes from.”

“I..” She was at a loss for words and tried to not look at him. “You are such a stupid cat sometimes.”

Chat giggled softly. “That’s not nice to say to a hero of Paris.”

“Who is currently unemployed, if I am allowed to remind you.” It was easy for them to fall back into their playful joking after another one of their deep conversations.

 

* * *

 

“We could be able to identify the gender today, Mademoiselle.” said the doctor as Marinette prepared herself for the ultrasound session. Adrien stood only a few meters away, fumbling with his fingers while looking through the room. It was still weird for him to not wait outside. Everyone was really nice but to be one of the few men in a house full of pregnant women was making him feel uneasy. “Have you been doing well?”

“As well as possible.”, Mari answered and sat down, Adrien did the same “I do have pain in my back sometimes or I get really exhausted even though I just walk up the stairs to my room.”

“That is completely normal.” The middle-aged woman smiled as she rolled closer with her chair. “You can always come here if the pain gets too unbearable. Or there are these wonderful courses for and with other expecting couples.”

“We are not-”. Marinette had tried to clarify, pointing at the blonde next to her at the same time but he was faster than her.

“My father is expecting us to attend them.” Adrien stated, looking at Marinette who was blushing. “I guess it could be fun?” The doctor laughed softly and then started with the checkup.

Everything was alright, even though the older woman recommended Marinette to drink more water to keep herself hydrated. The baby was doing well and had formed from a little spot on the screen to a visible human being. Adrien gently squeezed his friend’s shoulder.

“It looks like the due date could be in the middle of January. I’ll take a closer look at it later.”, Madame Caprete said and continued to look at the screen, “The heart rate is fine, so is the position. The only thing left to happen is the moving.” Her smile was reassuring. “Now, would you like to know about the gender?”

 

* * *

 

“It's a girl!”, Adrien announced to the family and friends, sitting on a table in a small restaurant, celebrating Marinette’s birthday.

“A girl?”, Sabine repeated and blinked. 

Alya leaned over the table to high-five her best friend. “That’s amazing! We can finally go shopping for clothes now!” the redhead exclaimed, smiling brightly. Tom grinned at his daughter and Nino pulled his cap off his head.

“Guys.” he started, “If I had known about the gender before your birthday, I would have gifted you with something else than a boring gift card.” 

“Your gift card was lovely, thanks, Nino.”, Marinette snorted. She poked through her salad. It definitely wasn’t the most exciting birthday lunch an eighteen-year-old could have, but at least everyone was around.

Alya opened the browser on her phone. “There is this shop I discovered a while ago. We could check it out next week? They have good quality toys, beds and everything for babies.”

“I guess Gabriel could at least sponsor the clothing.”, Nino remarked and Adrien kicked him under the table, making Sabine lift her eyebrows. She looked at the two boys.

“Adrien,” Marinette’s mother started, “You live on your own now, don’t you? How is it going so far?”

“Well… as good as it could be.”, he replied and pushed some hair out of his face. “There are a lot of things I miss.”

“Like his chef.” Nino was kicked again.

“Or Nathalie.” Alya teased.

“Or the instant warm water shower.”

“Seriously, Mari, you, too?” Adrien groaned in displeasure, making his friends snicker. “Anyway.” - “Don’t you dare change the topic, Agreste.”, the dark-skinned female warned. - “Why don’t we raise a glass for our lovely Marinette here. Happy birthday to you!” Despite the fact that he ignored Alya’s joke, everyone around the table lifted their cup and wished a  happy birthday to the pregnant girl.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there!  
> I didn't have much time this week and fell a bit back in my prewriting but I can surely say, that part 2 will end after chapter 10! Also, I discovered a problem this morning and wanted to ask if one of my readers already had a similar situation... When I opened an email which informed me about new kodus I got directed to the website unicorn_write (and the normal AO3 end of the link). I don't know if that is a current issue on AO3, couldn't find any information on their Q&A page, so if one of you knows more just tell me! :)  
> Then I wanted to thank you for all of your support again! Now, enjoy the chapter ^^

Adrien looked from his laptop to his phone, which had lit up during his class. He furrowed his brows as he took it from the small table and unlocked the screen. The good thing about going to university was that the professors usually didn’t care about what was going on in the room. In his short time there he had already seen people napping while the teacher did an experiment in the front.

 

> >>It feels like a snake!<<

 

It was the first message he saw and Adrien didn’t really know what to do with that information.

 

> >Mari, are you okay?<

 

“He’s doing it again.”, whispered someone next to him.

“What?”, asked another voice.

“Texting his girlfriend.”

“Guys!”, Adrien hushed them and looked over to Sasha and Lee who had easily become his friends since the three of them shared many classes. “Could you please stop commenting on my text messages? That would be really nice.” They just gave each other knowing looks.

People knew him on campus, of course they did. It wasn’t anything new to him to be asked for a photo or autograph but maybe he just suspected that uni would be different. Therefore he had been happy when Sasha and Lee didn’t really know about his career as a model since they came from abroad.

Park Lee-chan was born and raised in South Korea with a French father and had always been interested in coming to the country. Sasha, on the other hand, had a Brazilian heritage even though she lived in England for all her life. She was a pretty girl with dark skin and short brunette hair, but her love for gossip reminded him all too well of another cheeky reporter.

His phone lit up and the blonde interrupted his workflow again.

 

> >>She’s moving!”<<
> 
> >>And it feels like a snake!!!<<

 

The last text bubble contained a snake emoji. Adrien would have giggled at Marinette’s way of describing things, but he was too focused on the new development of her pregnancy.

“I think she has an animal kink.”, Sasha informed Lee, who gasped dramatically. Adrien shut his laptop and started to messily push his belongings into his bag. “Hey, there are still ten minutes left!”

“Could you send me your notes later? I need to go.” And with that Adrien excused himself as he hurried to get out of the room. His baby was finally moving! Plagg just strongly denied to transform him to get faster across town so it was half an hour later when he finally opened the side door of the bakery with a spare key and ran up the stairs to the attic.

“Mari!”, Adrien announced himself while pushing the trapdoor open. “Are you okay? Is she still moving?” Marinette looked taken aback by the blonde who stormed into the room. He lifted his hands. “I am sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!”

“It’s… it’s okay.”, she said and brushed some hair out of her face, “I just didn’t expect you to come here so fast. You could have sent me a text.” Adrien nodded in agreement while letting his bag drop to the floor. He joined her on her chaise, carefully avoiding to sit on a book.

“Sorry, again, I guess I just was too excited.” The boy rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. He then pointed down to her round belly which was clearly visible under the white long-sleeved shirt. “Is she still moving?”

“She stopped about five minutes ago but maybe if we wait a bit she’ll start again.” There was a soft smile on her lips as she traced the left side of her body. “The whole feeling was really weird in the beginning and I totally freaked out but Maman said that it’s supposed to feel like that. I honestly imagined it to be more painful but… for some reason, it’s a really calming sensation.” They smiled at each other.

Adrien felt relieved. He knew how scared Marinette had been about not having developed any motherly feelings for her child yet, so it was nice to see that finally, something had changed.

“I guess we should come up with a name soon., he said and rubbed his chin, “There are only… two? Two months left.”

“I know! Honestly, how is it possible that seven months have already passed?” Marinette shook her head and leaned back. 

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” The blonde rubbed his neck, then pulled a notebook out of his bag and clicked the back of a ballpoint pen. “Name suggestions. Shoot.”

“What!? You can’t just put me on the spot like that!”

“Mari, you seriously haven’t thought about any names yet?” Adrien tilted his head to the side with a questioning expression. “I always assumed that girls like to make up names.”

“Of course I have some in mind but thinking about it… They are mostly for boys.” She moved to sit across from Adrien, their knees almost touching. He hummed and tapped the pen against the paper. “Why don’t you tell me about your ideas first?”

“I’d like to have my mother’s name involved if that’s okay with you.” he confessed, “I always told myself that. It doesn’t have to be like… her first name but maybe a second one?” He wrote it down and turned the page to let Mari have a look.

“Adele? It’s a beautiful name, Adrien.”

“She would be happy to hear that.” His smile was shy and nervous as he pulled the book closer to his chest again. “Now your idea, please.” The dark haired girl thought for some seconds. And then an old memory flashed into her mind.

“Emma. I like Emma a lot.”

“Any specific reason?”

“No… Alya and I joked around once and I made the name up.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s still one I like very much and, I mean, we don’t have to settle for a name yet, right?” Adrien nodded in agreement as he wrote it down. “I’ll let you know if I come up with something else.”

“Emma.”, he repeated softly and Marinette had the assumption that he already grew fond of the name. “It really sounds nice!” He put his notebook down and fumbled with his fingers. Mari let out a long breath.

“Let’s not tell anyone the name yet.”, she decided. “Let’s keep it a secret until after the birth. Alya will be so frustrated when she finds out we already made a decision and aren’t telling her.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun.”, Adrien chuckled and winked. “I am good at keeping secrets.”

If she just knew how good.

 

* * *

 

It was finally time. If there had been one thing Sabine Cheng and Gabriel Agreste were agreeing on, it was the fact that their children needed to visit a birth preparation course. Both Marinette and Adrien had protested but there just wasn’t any room for arguing. The Gorilla parked in front of the three stories tall gym.

Adrien sighed. “I still need to write and print out an essay. How long did your mother say is that course supposed to go?”

“Until three in the afternoon.” The blonde groaned as they entered an elevator and Marinette did the same. “Honestly, the youngest kid I’ve ever babysitted was Manon and she was three when I watched her the first time. Why can’t we just skip the breathing exercises and go straight to learning how to change a diaper.” The door opened and the two stepped into a hallway. There was a sign showing them where to go. The course ended up to be in a bigger room with mirrors on one wall. It looked more like a place to do Yoga at or maybe dance lessons.

Colourful mats were spread out and other couples had already settled down upon most of them. It was easy to see that they were the youngest.

“I honestly feel so uncomfortable right now.”, Marinette whispered while shooting Alya a quick message.

“Same here.”

“You know what I have been wondering? The news have been awfully quiet around you. Aren’t people suspecting-” She gestured down to herself “-that this might have something to do with you?”

Adrien shrugged his shoulders. “I guess father is paying the press to leave me alone since I stopped modeling. My only job right now is to represent the company at events, my private life is none of their business. He doesn’t want me to be involved in a scandal.” Marinette gently brushed her shoulder against his.

“Adrien Agreste, an eighteen-year-old ex-supermodel and Physics nerd, expects baby with baker's daughter.”, she said and imitated a reporter voice as good as possible.

“Sh, we are in a public place, Mari!”

“Hiding in plain sight, aren’t we, Agreste?”

He wanted to say something but stopped. Adrien raised a finger as he grabbed his bag. “Hold on.” Shuffling could be heard and a man in the row in front of them turned around to give the teenagers a judging look. “Here we go.” Marinette burst out into loud laughter as she saw the pair of dark sunglasses on Adrien's nose. He looked around himself and then mockingly pressed a finger against his lips to tell her to be quiet.

“Do you usually carry sunglasses around with you, monsieur Celebrity?”

“What? No!” Adrien took them off and hooked them into the front of his shirt. “Marinette, it’s the beginning of November, why else would I carry sunglasses around with me?” Her giggles were still loud as a woman entered the room. Her long blonde hair had been pulled up into a tight bun.

“I am Natasha and I will be your coach for today.”, she introduced herself to the group and clapped her hands. Adrien and Marinette looked at each other with raised eyebrows, sharing the same thought of ‘ _ why do I get this feeling this woman never had a baby herself? _ ’.

The course started with a quick introduction round. It turned out that they really were the youngest of the group, the oldest member to attend was in her late thirties. Another woman brought her brother since her husband, unfortunately, couldn’t make it and Adrien whispered a rather rude joke into Mari’s ear what made her snort unattractively.

The first thing on Natasha’s list were breathing exercises. Everyone closed their eyes and fully concentrated on taking deep and steady breaths and, really, Marinette had tried to take it seriously, but all too soon she found herself in a competition with her partner about who was able to take the most dramatic intake of air. People started to get annoyed, that was for sure.

After about forty-five minutes the group moved on to another exercise, which was much more uncomfortable for the young adults.

“Many men ask me: ‘how can I help my partner through the process of giving birth?’ In the next hour, I am going to show you how you can do daily partner exercises at home so that both sides of the parents know how to act when the day of birth finally arrives.”, Natasha announces, looking happy as ever and Adrien checked the time. It was barely after twelve.

The first few positions were fine and definitely bearable for the pair of friends, but they stopped fooling around as the fifth one was presented by a couple in the front row. Marinette blushed to the tip of her ears by the intimate pose and Adrien tried to avoid eye contact while rubbing the back of his neck. They stuttered apologizes to each other as Mari clumsily rammed her elbow into his stomach, making the situation even more awkward. The rest of the group had already settled into the position and a short-haired brunette next to them clearly had enough.

“Are you the father?”, she asked Adrien and he nodded, what made the woman snap. “You two made a baby, there should be nothing you have to be embarrassed about except yourselves.” Marinette blinked and Adrien literally had to grab her arm and pull her into the position they were supposed to do.

The dark haired girl had to sit between her friend’s legs with her back propped against his chest. She could feel his arms which were sneaking under hers and his large hands found a gentle place on either side of her baby bump, rubbing soft circles to calm her down.

“What a bi-”

“Mari.”

“What?”, she hissed. “It’s the truth.” Her head fell back and almost knocked against his chin. Still, their height difference wasn’t making the whole exercise easier and Mari had to reposition herself multiple times, what made Adrien groan. Natasha left the room to get some things for the next steps, leaving the couples to happily chat. Adrien was still caressing her belly.

“Did she already move today?”, he asked softly and she shuddered at the feeling of his breath against her ear.

“This morning. But I guess mademoiselle rather sleeps than having to go through this crap with us.”

Adrien giggled. “Those were the days. What would someone give to be back in the womb.” Marinette rammed her elbow into his side again and the blonde had withdrawn one of his hands to cover his mouth. 

Natasha finally returned to the room. This time she had a cart with softballs with her. “These will be representing the baby now, so please, every pair should get one.”, she said, already handing out the softballs.

“What!?”, Mari shrieked and turned her head to Adrien with a bewildered expression. “A ball? I am not giving birth to a ball!”

Adrien shrugged. “What did you expect? Dolls? Cmon, that would actually lift the quality of this course.”  For some seconds the two of them simply stared at another, but then they broke out in loud laughter. People rolled their eyes at them and it looked like, the course leader was fed up with their antics.

“Mademoiselle, monsieur, may I ask you what is so funny?”, the blonde woman asked, her left eye twitching in annoyance.

“I am sorry!” The sentence could be barely heard through Mari’s snorting and she was gliding further down against the floor. With barely enough strength, Adrien puller her up again. They couldn’t stop laughing and therefore found themselves standing outside of the gym not even ten minutes later.

“Crap.”, Adrien whispered while looking on his phone, “We still have almost two hours left before my driver comes to pick us up.” Mari bit her lip and looked around. She had her fingers crossed under her bump so that her winter coat didn’t fall oddly around it.

It was still quite warm for November. The temperature barely fell further than 10 degrees. But in their years together as friends, Adrien had often witnessed how sensitive the half Chinese girl was against the cold and he decided that standing where they were now for the next two hours wouldn’t be great.

“Hey, are you hungry? I think there was a restaurant some meters down the road?”, he asked and offered her his arm. She chuckled and wrapped hers around it.

“Lead the way!”

 

* * *

 

It turned out that their parents weren’t too happy about what happened. The Gorilla apparently noticed the two teenagers coming out of the building way too soon and informed Gabriel, who then informed Sabine. Marinette felt guilty as she stepped into the living room. Her mother didn’t say one word while she prepared dinner and it made the room feel small.

“I am sorry.”, the girl confessed and played with the fabric of her shirt. “We didn’t plan on getting kicked out, really! I know that we acted wrong, please, don’t be mad at me, Maman.”

“Marinette.” Sabine didn’t even turn around as she started to speak. “I have the feeling that you don’t take this seriously enough. Being a parent isn’t an easy job and giving birth is going to be the most painful and exhausting process you have to go through. Gabriel, your father and I thought that preparing you would be good since there will be times neither of us can help you. But maybe we were wrong. We won’t force you to go to another one. You are old enough to know what is the best for you.”

“Maman… I-”

“Please go to bed early today. Your father keeps the shop closed tomorrow since he doesn’t feel well and had the idea that the two of you could maybe go to Ikea and look for new furniture.”

-

 

“Maman is mad at me, isn’t she?”, Marinette asked her father as she helped him to close the bakery. The tall man had been sneezing and coughing all day and decided to take a day off before the sickness could get worse.

“She is not.”, he responded, “We did expect a more grown-up behavior of you but we can’t make you do anything you don’t like.”

“This is all such a mess.” She pressed her hands against her eyes to keep herself from having another emotional outburst.

“Hey. Hey, no need to cry, my little cinnamon bun.” Tom chuckled at his daughter’s groan by the mentioning of the nickname but she didn’t protest as the tall man hugged her. “We love you, Marinette. You are currently going through a time in your life, where you can need all the support in the world and your mother understands that since she had experienced it too. And to tell you a little secret, your mother’s side of the family didn’t like the fact that her Chinese daughter left the country and married a French man. They didn’t even know about you until you were born.” Tom squeezed his daughter’s shoulders. “They reconciled in the end, but your mother is still angry about the fact that her family left her alone in those times just because they weren’t happy.”

“You are not happy about this situation either, are you?”, the girl asked with a cracked voice.

Her father sighed. “No, we aren’t.”, he admitted, “But we learned from the past and decided that we wouldn’t want you to experience the same hard times as we had. Your mother is trying to give you anything she couldn't have.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better, Papa.” The tall man chuckled and squeezed her shoulders one more time before continuing to clean the displays.


	8. Chapter 8

Eight months in and she still didn’t trust him enough.

Adrien had checked his phone after one of his classes just to see some missed calls and text messages from Alya and Nino.

 

> >>Dude, where are you? Mari isn’t feeling good.<<

 

It had been the first he opened and it had made him anxiously text him back with:

 

> >Why? What happened?<

 

Adrien was about to check the ones Alya had sent when Nino already started to type back. It was a quick explanation he gave the soon-to-be-father, without any details, but it made Adrien panic anyway.

Marinette had fainted. Apparently, she and Alya had been looking for Christmas presents earlier that day. They had walked around a lot and after an hour or two, Marinette had begged to stop for a second. She had felt dizzy and sat down on the ground just to space out for multiple minutes. Alya had freaked and screamed for help which had attracted a doctor who had enjoyed his lunch break. He took them to his hospital and Tom had picked the girls up from there.

Adrien was furious. Alya’s messages were cryptic, not revealing much but asking him to check on Mari and her hydration in the future. So the reason she fainted was that she wasn’t looking out for her health!? He couldn’t believe it.

Really, Adrien was a patient man who didn’t get angry often but there were surely moments in which he just lost all of his control. How dare she! Why wasn’t he the first person to receive the news? He thought that he got closer to her in the past weeks, as both Adrien and Chat but for some reason, she still didn’t trust him enough.

The bakers didn’t notice Adrien as he stepped through the side door and literally stomped up the stairs. Taking one last breath, he burst into the Dupain-Cheng’s living room where Marinette lay on the sofa and immediately sat up by the sound of footsteps.

“Adrien! What are you-”

“What am I doing here? Seriously, Marinette?” Adrien dumped his bag onto the floor and glared at her. “You fainted and didn’t have the decency to tell me!? I am the father! I have the right to know what’s going on with my child!”

She looked confused for a second. “Who told you?”

The blonde shrugged. “Does it matter?” he murmured, “Because that’s really the last thing I want to talk to you about right now.” The dark haired girl just stared at him, so he decided to continue. “Actually, why wasn’t I the first one to get the news? Nino knew about it! Heck, why does my best friend, who wasn’t even with you when it happened, know about the fact that you fainted?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Alya told him.” Marinette answered and rolled her eyes in annoyance. “I thought it would be the best if we didn’t interrupt you during classes again.”

“What the hell!” Adrien exclaimed and tucked at his hair, “What do you think is more important to me, my classes or my baby?”

“Well...” Mari started, “Whenever you are here you work on the notes you made at uni. Sometimes I feel like you just stuck around because you feel like you have to and not because you honestly care.” She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, eyes narrowed in an angry way.

“That’s a joke, right?”

“It is not.”

“Okay, so you are blaming me for trying to achieve my dream career!? I am sorry that I want to pass my exams this semester!” He gestured wildly, causing Marinette to stand up, “Sorry, that’s not the point of this conversation right now… But you don’t seem to take this seriously either by the fact that you don’t drink enough.”

“I am the one carrying the baby, how could I take this even more seriously, Adrien!?” She stomped her feet and growled. “I’ve never had a baby before, okay!? How am I supposed to know how much I have to drink a day while being pregnant?” The situation started to get out of hand, but neither of them was backing down.

“I don’t know? But maybe you should start to tell me stuff! Just to remind you  **again** : I am the father! I want to be informed when something happens to my child, is that too much to demand from you?”, Adrien turned around and threw his head back in frustration. “We need to work together as a team if you like it or not and this all won’t work out if we don’t talk to each other.” He expected a harsh comeback from Marinette, one that would get them back into fighting, but it never came. So he turned back to her with furrowed eyebrows and his eyes widened at the sight of his friend.

Mari was rubbing her head and blankly stared into the air, looking quite unsteady on her feet.

“Marinette?” he asked and panicked again. “Oh my- are you okay? C'mon, you should sit down.” He grabbed her arm and gently guided her back to the sofa. She was trembling.

“Water.” she whispered, “A glass of water, please.” The blonde didn’t need to hear her plead a second time as he already sprinted into the kitchen area, opening a cabin and pulling out a cup to fill with some fresh water. He nearly stumbled over the carpet as he hurried back in the living room and pressed the desired object into the pregnant girl’s hand.

“I am so sorry, I stressed you, right?” Adrien patted her shoulder and took one step back at the time. “I… You shouldn’t be stressed in your condition.” - he grabbed his bag - “I’ll just leave so you can calm down, okay? Okay.” The last thing he saw was how Marinette blinked at him, mouth agape but before she could even answer, he was already out of the door.

 

* * *

 

He was a terrible father, stressing a pregnant woman. Adrien didn’t return to university for his afternoon class, it wasn’t an important one anyway. Instead, he took the subway back to his flat and opened his laptop as soon as he sat down on his sofa. Plagg had started to comment on the fight, but Adrien locked him into the fridge with some camembert.

There was a horrible though making its way into his head. For now, the baby, Emma, was all just theory and while he thought that he had been prepared enough to be a father, he came to the conclusion that he wasn’t.

Theoretically, everyone could read a book about parenting and claim to be ready for the task. Practically, it wasn’t that easy.

For the first time in his life, Adrien felt like he wasn’t ready. There were only about four weeks left and both he and Marinette were running out of time to get ready for this new addition to their lives.

“A baby. I am having a baby.” was Adrien's mantra for the whole afternoon as he did a deep research on how to change diapers and prepare bottles. Tired from the day, he stepped into his bedroom and groaned into one of his pillows. Then his phone buzzed with an incoming call from Marinette. Their conversation was awkward at first, none of them wanted to approach their conflict and therefore they talked about light topics, like what they had for dinner. It had been silent for a whole minute after everything had been said and Adrien was about to end the call, as he suddenly heard Marinette taking a deep breath.

“I am sorry for what I said today.” she whispered, “I know that you aren’t here because you feel like you have to but because you want to. I wasn’t able to control my emotions, please forgive me.”

“Your thoughts were reasonable. It really looked like I wasn’t taking things too seriously.”

“We both did.” Her agreement surprised him and he turned around to blankly stare at the ceiling. “And here I was, thinking this could be easy.”

“Noone said that this is going to be easy, quite the opposite.” Adrien reminded her and sighed into his pillow. 

He heard Marinette taking a deep breath and then letting the air flow out loudly. “I know…” She probably repositioned herself by the sound of blankets moving. “I’ll try to watch out for my health from now on but I guess we both missed the memo.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well.... it looks like neither of us realized that this is a human being we’ll have to take responsibility for. It’s not just an ultrasound picture and I bet the baby will be much more work than a pet… the bad thing is we can’t just give it away when we feel like we don’t want it anymore.” - “What we don’t want to think about.” - “What we don’t want to think about.” They both chuckled and Adrien turned on the light on his bedside table, grabbing his planner.

“Want to give the whole preparation course thingy another try?” he asked softly, already checking for a free day to attend one. “But this time we won’t joke around and get distracted, okay?”

Mari hummed in agreement. “I don’t have anything else to do anyway. Name a date and I’ll be there.”

 

* * *

 

This time, the course was a more pleasant experience. It was a much smaller group at a praxis and their course leader was actually pregnant too. Again, Marinette and Adrien were the youngest but the other couples didn’t exclude them from the conversation like the ones at the previous course did. The whole atmosphere was relaxed.

The oldest of the group was forty-two and explained how she had problems with having a child for many years, what made many women smile at her and tell her how happy there were for her. Vincent, who already had a daughter from his first marriage and only stuck around because of his girlfriend, walked through the room and helped other inexperienced soon-to-be fathers.

Adrien was just finished with his first try of changing a diaper as the twenty-five-year-old man approached him. “You did well for your first time, young man. Would you mind me giving you some tips?”

“Not at all.” The blonde smiled and made some room for the other man to sit down. Vincent started to untie the doll and grabbed a new diaper.

“My daughter used to move a lot in her sleep. There barely had been days where she wore them for the whole night.” the bald man explained, “You can avoid that from happening by tying it this way.” Adrien nodded along, focused on the moves of the other man’s hands. Marinette looked fondly at the way the model stuck out his tongue while trying to copy it. A shoulder bumped into hers.

“That was one of the first tips he gave me when he tried to teach me that stuff at home.” Christine, Vincent’s girlfriend, chucked gently. “He totally loves to show his trick off.” Mari also started to giggle. Christine and she had a similar due date and therefore the two women immediately bonded. They even exchanged numbers  to keep each other updated.

“You are so lucky to have an experienced partner.”, Marinette stated and her friend hummed in agreement. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, does he work for a TV Channel? He looks very familiar.”

“Oh, sadly not anymore. But he used to have a talk show in which he presented books and interviewed their authors.”

“No way, Vincent’s Book Corner?” the younger one asked and Christine nodded, her dark brunette hair falling all over her shoulder. “My mother used to love that show! Is there any way for it to return?”

“I sadly doubt it.”, she sighed. “His ex-wife leads the production of the show and I doubt that they would get along anymore.” Both women glanced at each other, making an expression that said ‘risky topic’. Then the twenty-two-year-old wiggled her eyebrows. “Your boyfriend looks quite familiar too.”

Too tired to correct Christine, Marinette nodded. “He is a model. You might have seen his face on billboards around the city to advertise fragrances and clothes.” Christine’s eyes narrowed in concentration as she focused her sight on the two men, who were still busy discussing diaper related tips. Then her pupils widened.

“Adrien Agreste!? Wow, that’s crazy! My little sister is totally obsessed with him and his work, her bedroom is full of magazine cutouts and she literally cried when the company announced that he wouldn’t continue to model after turning eighteen. She never told me that he had a girlfriend!” 

Marinette blushed at the exclamation and pressed her hands over her eyes. “It’s complicated.” She didn’t receive a reply to her statement so she continued. “We aren’t together.”

“You are not? But… isn’t he the father?”

“He is.”

Christine’s eyebrows shot up as she looked back and forth between the teenagers, trying to understand what was going on. She shook her head and blinked. “Okay, I am not even trying to get what you mean but I do have a question. Why isn’t the press going crazy about the fact that there will be a new generation of the Agreste family?”

Marinette shrugged. “Adrien assumes that his father pays people to keep quiet since he stopped modeling.”

“Explains why my colleges didn’t say anything.”, the older woman mumbled and Mari looked at her questioningly. “I work for a magazine.”, Christine hurried to explain. For a few seconds the two women were silent, then Mari’s eyes widened in shock and she started to panic.

“What-?” she whisper-screamed and moved backwards. Her friend realized what she said and what it implied so she lifted her hands in the air.

“Oh no!” the other one exclaimed, “I am not a reporter, sorry for the misunderstanding. I work in the editing department! There is no way I could turn this into a headline, not like I would do that anyway!”

“Do what?” Vincent appeared behind his girlfriend and leaned his hands on her shoulder, gently drawing circles on her back. Adrien also joined their little exchange. The older woman waved the topic off.

The course continued like that.

 

* * *

 

“This was… surprisingly nice.”, the blonde remarked while taking a sip of his drink and Marinette nodded. “I have the feeling that I actually learned something today.”

“Same.”, she agreed. “Christine actually advised me to check into a hospital some weeks before the birth. She said that it could be quite handy if the nurses already have your information when you arrive there at the due date.”

“I do have nothing else planned for today.” Adrien softly whispered, totally implying to keep Marinette company whatever she was about to do.

“Got all the important documents with me.”

“Then what keeps us sitting here anymore?”


	9. Chapter 9

To everyone's surprise, Gabriel Agreste had the decency to invite not only his son but also the Dupain-Chengs to the mansion for Christmas. This time, the dinner had been actually alright and not as stiff.

Mari received a gift card for an expensive fabric store from Gabriel, as well as baby related stuff from her parents and a new pair of gloves. The boy himself blushed hard as his father gifted him with a box containing small physic experiments. 

All in all, Christmas had been nice. 

Chat Noir sprinted over the rooftops again and didn’t even think twice as he climbed through Marinette’s open window. He fell face down onto the floor.

“Hey there, Chat.” she greeted him without even looking up from whatever she was doing at her desk. The superhero peeled himself off the ground and looked at the rearranged room.

Since Mari couldn’t climb up to her loft bed anymore, they had to put her chaise into the downstairs living room to fit Alya’s old bed, which she had sponsored due to the fact that she had moved into a dorm, next to the crib and other additional furniture. The room looked pretty cramped.

“Sorry to pop in here at such a late hour,” he apologized and walked over to her. “Aren’t you cold? Should I close the window?”

“It’s fine, Chaton, don’t worry. No one ever died because of some fresh air.” Marinette giggled and finally put her pencil down. She was glowing lately, he noticed. The round baby bump made her look even smaller than she already was and he felt the urgent need to literally protect her twenty-four-seven for the last three weeks of the pregnancy. “Three weeks, huh?”

She hummed softly and traced the top of the belly. “Three weeks.”

“Ready for a baby?”

“Honestly? No.” Mari joked, “But I tried my best to get prepared so we can just wait and see. It can’t possibly be worse than living in a city where a butterfly villain tries to take over emotional unstable people’s minds.” He laughed and sat down on the second pink chair. Something colourful caught his sight and he leaned closer just to see Marinette’s opened sketchbook. The page contained a rough drawing and the cat-like man rubbed his chin.

“What have you been doing?” he asked curiously.

She followed his sight and blushed gently. “I’ve been trying to get back into designing clothes because… giving up my passion for fashion design just because I couldn’t go to uni wasn’t a good decision. I know that now.” she explained and traced a finger over the page, “I haven’t designed anything in the past half year so I decided to start with something as simple as a blanket.” He nodded and took a closer look at the design. It was, indeed, a soft pink coloured blanket with stitches that would represent flowers and different kind of bugs just like bees and ladybugs. It looked totally adorable.

“Are you going to make it?”

“Probably. I did receive a gift card for Gabriel Agreste’s favourite fabric store.” Chat loved it when his friend’s eyes started to glow because of her hobby. “I just need to decide which material would be the best. It should be fluffy, but not hard to clean and definitely strong enough not to rip. And the yarn for the stitches needs to be easy to work with too.” She leaned back and tapped her finger against her cheek in a concentrated gesture.

He smiled at that. “Well, it’s good to see that you got back into your hobby! Especially since you are going to have a little model for yourself soon.”

Marinette shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t think that it would be a good idea to try out designs on a baby since there is a high chance of them getting dirty and she’ll outgrow them fastly too. Maybe in some years though?”

“I bet your little one would get all her good looks from her dad.” Chat smirked but Marinette just grinned and leaned her head on her hand.

“Hate to crush your dreams, Chaton, but my baby won’t be a little golden sunshine.” she said and it made him turn his head in curiosity. Marinette lifted her finger to show him to wait and pulled out the most recent ultrasound picture, which Adrien already knew. “See this part?”

“Hair, isn’t it?” the cat-like superhero asked, remembering that his friend had already pointed that feature out to him some hours ago.

“Exactly. So, do you know what that means?” - he shook his head - “Well, blonde people are rarely born with hair. But since you can clearly see hair here…”

“She will have dark hair? Like yours then?”

“It could be a dark brown too? We are going to find out soon!” Chat stared at her for multiple second and imagined his little one. The pictures didn’t show any Chinese features in his daughter's face but she definitely had Mari’s small nose and combined with the dark hair… A warm feeling was starting to rise in his stomach.

“I’m sure that she’ll be adorable anyway, model genes or not.” Chat stated and smiled at Marinette. She chuckled and nodded in agreement. Her smile faltered slowly as she looked down at her phone.

“A friend of mine, who I met at birth preparation, might need to go through an unnatural birth.” she whispered and Chat had the suspicion that she was talking about Christine. “Her baby doesn’t lay right so she feels pain in her lower stomach a lot and before anything bad happens…” She took a deep breath. “I am just glad that everything is going so well. I mean, yeah, of course, there is pain and exhaustion but it’s not something threatening.”

Chat nodded and squeezed her shoulder. “You can be really happy, huh?”

“Indeed.” She stretched and stood up, walking a bit through her room. “Please don’t be offended but I do need to kick you out now. My parents are out of the city over the weekend and I still need to prepare the little get together with my friends tomorrow for New Year’s Eve.”

“Oh, no, it’s not a problem!” he stated and pulled out his Baton from his back. “I’m busy tomorrow anyway so you’ll get a day off from your favourite superhero, too.”

“Who said that you were my fav?” They laughed and Chat leaped out of the little window again.

 

* * *

 

Not even twenty-four hours later he found himself sitting in the Dupain-Cheng’s living room, looking through a magazine while Marinette opened the door for Alya.

“Hey, there, girl!” the redhead exclaimed and immediately went for a hug. “Before you say anything else: My parents wish you all the best for the new year and they even sponsored half of your late Christmas present.” Alya pulled out a pretty wrapped up gift from her back and put it on the kitchen counter. She had spent the holidays with her family, therefore the two girls hadn’t been able to exchange their presents yet.

“Darn, I left yours upstairs.” Marinette said and already prepared a drink for her friend, who sat down on the barstools. “Remind me to get it after Nino arrived. Don’t want to get up there two times in a row.”

“Speaking of him, Nino might be a bit late. Traffic and all.” Adrien called from the sofa and looked at his watch. “Maybe he’ll be here in an hour or something.” It was still early for New Year’s Eve, so they still had plenty of time.

“Oh! Guess what I got us for the evening!” Mari proudly presented a bottle to her friend and she pinched her glasses back to get a better look at it.

“Champagne?”

“With and without alcohol, of course.”

“Nice!” The three of them settled down in the living room area. Alya talked about her time at uni and how she was supposed to write a professional article about some kind of political problem for her journalism class. She hated to spend so much time at the library, reading through history books to get enough background knowledge, nothing compared to her usual workflow on the Ladyblog. 

Adrien also complained about his studies and the enormous amount of work he still had to ideally finish before the 22nd of January, which was the due date. He wanted to have everything done before the semester break so that there could be enough time for him to be with his new family then.

Mari pinched the bridge of her nose as she explained how hard it had been to convince her parents to go on that romantic three nights relax weekend, Adrien and she had gifted them as a Christmas present and Alya snorted loudly. Nino arrived exactly ten minutes later.

“Sorry, dudes.” he apologized while peeling the coat off his shoulders, “The traffic was a real pain. Can you imagine how many people use the subway on New Year’s Eve? Because holy shit, there were a lot.”

“That’s a shitty excuse, Lahiffe.” Alya said and pushed a glass into the boy’s hand before he could even strip off his other jacket. He blinked but then rolled his eyes. “You know, you can tell us that you overslept, we wouldn’t judge you.” He literally glared at the reporter as she winked and Marinette decided to step between them with a warm smile as she hugged her childhood friend.

“Hey there, Nino. Haven’t seen you in a while.” 

He chuckled and pressed his present into her hand, then squeezed her shoulders softly and smiled. “You look so adorable. Is the baby girl okay?”

“All good and healthy.” Adrien had appeared from behind and fist-bumped his best bud while leaning his other arm gently on Marinette’s shoulder. It wasn’t even weird for them to touch each other closely anymore, especially after all those birth preparation exercises and time they spent together. Alya raised an eyebrow at that new behavior without commenting it.

Nino just nodded and grinned. “That’s great to hear. Now, there is this great movie which I wanted to see for a while now and it’s on in 10, could we watch it?” The four friends shrugged their shoulders, not having much to say about that idea since they didn’t have anything else to do anyway.

Adrien helped Alya to get some pastries from the bakery as snacks while the others prepared the TV and drinks. The movie was a sequel to one the group had seen back in their school time and Marinette blushed at the memory of her and Adrien having to sit in the couple-seat at the cinema because Alya and Nino had an ‘off phase’.

So much had changed since then. Heck, she was going to have his child in less than a month. Her sight turned to the blonde, who was too into the story to notice her staring. Not even two years ago she had stumbled and stuttered around him and now she was sitting next to him on her family’s sofa, not caring that he was so close.

For the first time in forever, she wondered how different her life would have been if she had fallen for her superhero partner, Chat Noir, instead of the supermodel, Adrien Agreste. It was too late to change that part of her life now, to change the day on which he had given her his umbrella. Mari sighed and focused back on the movie.

It finished about twenty minutes before midnight and the group decided to get ready for going outside. Nino had brought some fireworks and Adrien carried the Champagne as well as some plastic cups as the girl followed them down the stairs and to the park.

Alya gently bumped her shoulder into Marinette’s. “Girl. I’ve been wondering.” she started and tapped her index finger against her cheek, “Are you still crushing on sunshine? You guys became really close.” The bluenette blushed and shrugged her shoulders, looking everywhere but at Alya.

“I still like him, yes.” she admitted in the end. “I… the baby didn’t change my feelings but they are different now, you know? We have to work together as parents. There is not much room for unrequited romance.”

The redhead raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Who said it’s unrequited?”

“He doesn’t like me that way.” It was a statement but Marinette still felt the disappointment creeping up in her chest. Her blonde crush had never shown any interest in her, besides maybe being friends. And still, there was one question which had haunted her for months now:  _ Why had he slept with her in the first place? _

“Champagne?” She blinked and looked up at Adrien who held a cup to her with a questioning look. He gently tipped his head to the side when she didn’t react. “Don’t worry, it’s the one without alcohol.”

“Oh. Thanks.” She smiled and he returned one. They settled close to the Ladybug and Chat Noir statue, which was surrounded by police officers because some drunk teenager had almost destroyed it last year. It was a safe place. The park was filled with children and their parents, ready to celebrate the new year.

As the clock struck midnight, the four friends hugged each other and pressed kisses to their cheeks, wishing good luck and health for the future.

 

* * *

 

“Are you tired?” Marinette asked and looked down at Adrien. He rubbed his eyes below his thick-rimmed black reading glasses and yawned.

“No…” He dropped his pencil and lay his head on to bed. “Yes.”

The dark-haired woman sighed and tapped against her round stomach. “Take a break. You haven’t slept much and while I appreciate that you try to help me since my parents are gone, I don’t want you to feel like hell.”

“It’s no problem, really.” He tried to convince her, “I just need to finish copying the notes.”

“Adrien Agreste.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“One of your New Year’s resolutions had been to make more time for yourself and the first day of the Year isn’t even over yet.” She raised an eyebrow and he anxiously bit down on his lip while trying to avoid her gaze. The blonde knew that she was right. “Come here, your baby is kicking.” That seemed to get his attention and with a last sigh, he put down his glasses and snuggled to her side, pressing one if his cheeks against her belly while caressing it with his hands. Her hands started to comb through the golden streaks of soft hair. It were times like this when she forgot that they were not a couple.

Gulping, Mari collected her thoughts. “I can’t believe that three of my closest friends wear glasses now.”

He snorted lightly. “Well, I blame it on my father. The Agreste men have trouble with their eyesight from an early age.” She hummed confused. “He started to wear his glasses with twenty-one. I am barely nineteen.”

“Luckily, we are having a girl.” Marinette laughed and felt the boy chuckle under her fingers. He looked much younger than nineteen in his oversized Gabriel sweatshirt and wild blonde hair. They were still kids after all.

“I wouldn’t even be surprised if she’ll be an exception. Just imagine, little Emma walking into her first day of school half blind. Sounds totally like my luck.” 

Marinette groaned and pressed a hand to her face. “Let’s not talk about school yet, okay? We have to give birth first.”

“Twenty days, Mari.” he whispered and fell asleep only a few minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter until part 2 ends!


	10. Chapter 10

Marinette was late. Or, to be more precise, Emma was. It had been two days since the due date but nothing had happened and Adrien went kind of crazy. Sabine just smiled at him and tried to calm him down by saying that doctors could calculate the birth date but, in the end, some women are having their baby sooner and some later.

Of course, there already had been first signs of contractions but they were far too unregularly to be count as anything important. And as long as the little girl didn’t want to get out, they could just wait and see.

Adrien had spent all this time at the Dupain-Cheng house, even sleeping on another air mattress next to Mari to not miss even one little moment. It was nice, really, but annoying too and they both decided that they would visit a hospital after one week of waiting. Luckily, it didn’t get that far.

“Go to sleep.”, Marinette whispered softly from her bed and Adrien closed his eyes with a deep breath. It didn’t matter how much he tried, he just couldn't concentrate on sleeping. He turned his head to his left side, catching a glimpse of his friend’s side profile as she stared up at the ceiling. “Adrien…”

The blonde groaned and sat up. “I’m sorry but I just can’t,” he confessed and pulled at his hair. “What if something happens to you? I can’t just go to sleep.”

“If something happens to me, I need you to be well rested and not on the verge of snoozing away.” Her head turned over and he barely saw the dark hair moving in the darkness of the room. “Seriously, I mean it. Go to sleep.” Piercing blue eyes bore into his.

“But what about y-”

“It’s something different with me, Adrien. I can’t sleep because I am feeling pain in my lower region every fifteen to twenty minutes and it’s not nice at all.” He frowned and Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just… the whole situation brings my anxiety back.”

“Anxiety, huh?” he asked and sighed, “What are you afraid of? We tried our best to get prepared.”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t really get prepared for giving birth. I’m really afraid something might not go well.” she turned her head to the ceiling again. “My baby should be healthy and fine and… Those kind of things were going through my head the past few days.”

“I understand.” A reassuring smile made its way onto his lips and he rubbed a hand over his face again. Silence filled the room. The only sound came from their breaths and Adrien shot another look at the pregnant woman to his left. “Hey, would you mind if I…” Mari shook her head and the blonde immediately pulled his blanket over his shoulder, crawling over the floor until he snuggled into the bed. The girl moved a bit to the side to make enough room for both of them.

“Are you finally going to sleep now?” she asked and rolled her eyes at the innocent expression on her friend’s face. “You are going to be the death of me, Adrien Agreste.”

“I hope not, because if I would be to one to kill you Alya won’t hesitate to get revenge.”

“Good. There is a reason why she is my best friend.” They chuckled gently and the blonde pressed his face into the warm blanket. She closed her eyes together and took a deep breath, what made him frown again.

“Another one?”

“Another one.”

He clicked his tongue. “Not much time left, right?” She hummed in agreement, then suddenly sat up with a bewildered expression. Adrien did the same, rubbing his eyes and he blinking confused. “Are you okay?” She started to touch the mattress and her face became paler and paler.

“I think my water just broke?” It almost sounded like a question and the blonde raised his eyebrows.

“You  _ think _ !?” he shrieked and started to climb out of the bed to find the way downstairs through the darkness.

“There was this weird feeling and then…” - she was able to turn on a light on the bedside table - “Adrien, watch out!” But he already stumbled over the air matress, almost falling on the floor but he caught himself “Hey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Adrien let go of the mannequin, which he had used to stop falling, and hurried to the trap door. “Don’t move, okay? I’ll get your parents!” The blonde ran through the living room and he just had to knock two times at the bedroom door until Sabine opened it. She immediately knew what to do.

“Tom, get the car! Adrien, you grab the bag and join my husband. I’ll help Marinette to get ready.” She nodded to herself as she lay a gentle hand on the young man’s shoulders. Adrien was panicking on the inside and the gestured helped him to get back to reality. “I know, that you are nervous, honey, but please try to stay calm and follow my orders, okay?”

He smiled shyly. “Thanks, Sabine.”

“No need to thank me.” she said and clapped her hands. “Now we have to deliver a baby!”

 

* * *

 

Nino Lahiffe wasn’t necessarily tired as he decided to take a break from a project to get a late night snack. Sometimes, he needed to step back and listen to other music to relax. The clock on his phone read ten after eleven and he rubbed his neck. He left his room and rolled his eyes at the sight of his roommate on the living room couch, snorting away while the TV was still on. Nino turned the volume down and entered the kitchen, grabbed a bag of nuts and returned to his room. Only a few minutes later, his phone buzzed with an incoming call.

“Hey, Alya.” he greeted, still chewing.

“Hey.” she answered, “What are you doing at such a late hour?”

He snorted gently. “Mixing some music for fun. Just got myself something to eat. What about you? Still working on that article?”

“Yeah. Actually, I just finished it but that wasn’t the reason for my call.” He heard how Alya stretched and probably lifted her laptop off her body. She sighed. “Adrien just shoot me a message about twenty minutes ago. Mari went into labour.”

“About time.” the dark skinned boy answered and fixed his phone between his cheek and his shoulder to continue to eat.

“I know, right?” she said and laughed softly.

“So, you want to head to the hospital now or...?”

“Nah, we still have time.” Alya answered confidently. “I was thinking that maybe we could walk to some fast food restaurant? Get Tom and Sabine some coffee, too? A birth takes time, so it won’t make a difference if we appear there in one, two or even three hours. Lemme get ready and I’ll be over at yours in thirty?”

“Sounds good. Call me when you are here, Ron is sleeping on the couch again.” He heard Alya laugh heartily and ended the call to get ready himself.

 

* * *

 

 

Normally, Gabriel Agreste went to bed shortly after midnight. He didn’t expect to receive a call from his son a bit after eleven, saying that his grandchild was on its way. The tall man wouldn’t care usually, but he knew that Adrien would be hurt if his father didn’t show up and for once in his life, Gabriel really wanted to try to be a good role model for his own child.

He finished his work about an hour later, showered and dressed in more comfortable clothes before calling a taxi and making his way to the hospital. He almost wanted to roll his eyes at the voice of his son’s best friend.

“Where is Adrien? Are there any news about the progress?” the boyish voice asked and Gabriel turned to his left, seeing the family members and friends standing in a corridor.

“He is inside. I didn’t expect Mari to want him by her side but it is her decision in the end.” Sabine answered calmly and smiled as she spotted the other Agreste. “Hello, Gabriel. Nice to see you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” The adults shook their hands and the group settled down into a waiting area after some minutes. Nurses went in and out of the rooms and more people arrived after another hour. Gabriel was concentrating on his tablet, writing a short email to Nathalie so that she could cancel his schedule for the following day as suddenly his train of thoughts was interrupted.

“Hey, Nino?” the young redhead called and gently bumped her shoulder into the boy next to her who was playing some game on his phone.

“What, Als?”

“I’m betting 10 Euros that Adrien is going to faint.” That made Gabriel raise his eyebrows and he turned his attention to them.

“No way I am taking this bet!”, Nino protested. “Why do you even think that my dude would faint?”

She shrugged. “Well, Adrien is a sunshine. He has a really soft heart and I know how rude and grumpy Mari can become while she is in pain. She’ll just need to throw one insult at him and he’ll be close to crying.”

“No he won’t!” That caused everyone to look at the dark skinned boy and Alya smirked. Tom Dupain smiled.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if Marinette started to get a bit verbal, Sabine was similar.” he explained and his wife kicked his leg gently, making the teenager laugh.

“Really?” Alya snorted and wiped some tears out of her eyes. “I can’t really imagine Sabine throwing curses around.”

“Same.” Nino agreed.

The older woman rolled her eyes and then nodded towards Gabriel. “Are there any interesting stories about Adrien’s birth.” she asked and made the man feel a bit uncomfortable. It had been years since someone questioned him about that day and it often had been his wife who talked.

“Adrien was supposed to be a girl.” he then blurred out and Nino tried to hide his chuckle while Alya shamelessly broke out into loud laughter again.

“That explains so fucking much!” she howled and pulled out her phone. “I need to note that somewhere and tell Marinette about it later. It would totally make her day!”

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette didn’t feel all to well. Things were going way too slow in her opinion. Adrien was tired too. They should have known that running on five hours sleep and being awake for almost eighteen hours now wouldn’t be good for a birth. There was a lot of crying. But they managed it in the end.

Little Emma was born somewhere between two and half past two in the morning and she was as healthy as possible.

“She is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Marinette sobbed and cradled her little daughter in her arms. Adrien brushed his hair out of his face in exhaustion and couldn’t help the small smile on his face. In comparison to her mother, Emma was silently opening and closing her small little fingers and caught her father’s bigger one as he tried to touch her soft cheek. A feeling of pride and happiness started to bloom in his chest and tears started to form in his eyes.

“You did such a great job, Mari!” Adrien whispered. He really wanted to look at his friend but the sight of his  _ baby  _ was to hypnotizing. And she wasn’t doing any better.

“I have to thank you. Thank you so so much for this!” Marinette leaned down to press her forehead against Emma’s. She took a deep shaking breath. “Hi there, my little baby.”

It took them almost a whole hour to come to terms with this new addition to their life. Emma  had dozed off into a well deserved sleep. Adrien wanted to hold her so badly but he needed to be patient since both girls needed a break to get back to their strengths. A light knock on the door made the young parents look up and seconds later their families entered.

“Congratulation, my dear.” Sabine said and brushed the sweaty bangs out of her own daughter’s face. Gabriel stepped behind Adrien, patting his back gently and the boy smiled tiredly up at his father.

“You owe me a name, girl.” Alya commented softly while settling down on a chair beside the bed. Mari and Adrien shot each other looks and she nodded to symbolize him to tell them.

“Emma. Emma Agreste.” he stated proudly with a big toothy grin.

“An Agreste? Really?” The, now, grandmother asked and looked back and forth between the two.

Adrien seemed to notices the critical tone in her voice and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “We didn’t have the chance to fill the birth certificate fully yet so the name can still be changed…”

“No!” Everyone turned to Marinette, who had literally interrupted the blonde’s sentences. They blinked at her outburst and she started to blush. “I… I mean she is Adrien’s daughter and I know that his last name is a risky choice but I want her to have his name, please?” Pleading blue eyes looked around the room.

Tom patted his child’s head. “You don’t have to ask for our permission anymore. You made that decision and we respect that.” Sabine nodded and Gabriel seemed to be not too happy but kept his mouth shut.

“Well, now that we cleared this topic…” Nino started and rubbed his chin, “Where can I sign up for the position of the godparent?”

Almost everyone groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of part 2! Part 3 should be up in two weeks!
> 
> The whole pregnancy was inspired by my sister, who gave birth about half a year ago. She also said that the movement of the baby felt like a snake and all that ^^
> 
> Spoiler for S2Ep11: We now know that Adrien's mother is called Emelie but Emma Emelie doesn't roll off the tongue very nicely I decided to keep Adele as the middle name but add Emelia (a little mix of both) as her full first name. Everybody still calls her Emma though.
> 
> Besides that, I wanted to thank everyone who left kodus and comments so far!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to part three!  
> And Happy Easter to everyone!!

**-Part Three: Revelations And Other Problems -**

 

Three days later, Marinette and Emma were finally coming home. Chat Noir sat on one of his favourite rooftops and thought about the past few days. Their parents and friends had left some minutes after checking on the newborn and the little family fell asleep almost immediately. The nurses ordered Adrien to spend the second night at his own home, what he did after a lot of protests. He knew that he couldn’t spend all day, every day with his baby and Mari but it would be a lie to say he didn’t miss them.

His thoughts wandered to another woman he missed and wondered if Ladybug had already given birth too. It’s been over six months since she left. Maybe she was still pregnant? Would she even tell him the exact day? Their identities were secret but so many babies are born in one day and -

Joyful giggle filled his ears and Chat blinked in disbelieve. He stood up, cat ears twitching as he tried to identify the direction of the laughter. A familiar sound appeared right behind him and he turned just in time to see his superhero partner running towards him. _Ladybug_.

Her blue eyes sparkled in the city lights and the smile on her lips was bright as she tossed her yo-yo and swung herself over a street on his rooftop. She didn’t stop running but Chat’s feet were glued to the ground.

“Chat!” Ladybug called as she wrapped her arms around her cat and lifted him up, twirling them both around the roof. He was totally flabbergasted and continued to wobble a bit as his partner set him down again. She stepped back, hands clasped together as she looked at him and then spread her arms while spinning herself.

“Ladybug. You are back?” he asked and watched her coming to a halt.

Her hands propped on her hips, she looked over the city. “I missed this so much!” she sighed and turned to her partner. “I missed you.”

She didn’t change much, he noticed. The dark hair was still parted into two pigtails and the costume wasn’t any different either but she looked… older? He didn’t know how to describe it but Ladybug had some kind of aura around her, that made him smile fondly.

“I missed you too, Bug.” he then finally said, taking a step closer to her, “Did you have a nice vacation?”

“It wasn’t a vacation, really.” the superhero answered and stretched her arms. He noticed that her body structure was different from her old one. “I hope you didn’t get too bored while I was in horrible pain.” She flicked his bell. “Well, whatever Akuma Hawk Moth is going to send after us, it can’t get worse than having a baby. At least for me.”

“Hey! I might not have been the one in labor but I know what you are talking about anyway!”

“Oh. Really?” Ladybug leaned forward, arms folded over her chest at her partner’s protest. “How come, kitty?”

Chat smiled brightly. “My friend had her baby some days ago and this guy here,” he pointed a claw at himself, “Helped her to get the cat out of the bag.” There was a silent moment. The young woman groaned then and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Chat.” Her voice was full of disagreement. “Did you just use a pun to describe a-” Another groan escaped her lips and his mouth twitched in amusement. “Anyway! I can’t stay long, my parents think I am in the bathroom to get ready for sleep and I don’t want to leave them alone with my child for too long.”

“I understand.” He nodded. “So… are you coming back for real now? Like doing patrols and all?”

“Sure thing, I need to get back into shape. Are you still doing them on our usual days?”

“Yep.”

“Cool.” A clock in the distance announced a new hour and Ladybug sighed. “That’s my cue.” She shot him one last smile, then threw her yo-yo and jumped from the building. Chat watched her go.

 

* * *

 

Adrien watched his dinner go round after round inside the microwave while Plagg sat in his hair, eating cheese and letting grumps fall down over the blonde’s face. He felt… weird. Seeing the spotted superhero, the love of his life, again after such a long time was different than he expected. Because as soon as he stepped into his flat a thought had crossed his mind. Ladybug had a _child_ . She probably had a boyfriend, _husband?,_ at home and while he knew that she was still young, the possibility of her having a part time job never crossed his mind.

He shouldn’t be the one judging, he had a kid himself.

“Stop being dramatic. I thought you were happy to see Ladybug again?” Plagg stated and another grump of camembert fell from his hair on the floor and Adrien gimanced, taking his own meal.

“I am happy to see her again. It’s just… so much changed.” He sat down at his small dining table, the kwami taking the place across from him. “I mean we are older now, having families. But at the same time, we are barely adults. It feels so wrong but also right. Hard to explain.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Plagg rolled his small eyes and his holder was just about to comment something as his phone chirmed. He grabbed it and opened his messages.

 

>  >>Finally sleeping!”<<

 

Marinette wrote. There was a picture of Emma, sleeping in her crib like an angel, wrapped up in the pink blanket her mother designed and Adrien couldn’t stop smiling. “She’s so adorable, I can’t.”

“Kid, no.” The cat violently shook his little head. “How can you humans think your offsprings are cute? They are ugly and have disgusting chubby hands to grab and pull everything!”

Adrien raised an eyebrow while lifting his fork. “Sounds like you have experience.”

“Sounds like you don’t.”

“Sorry.” he answered unimpressed. “I’ve been raised in a mansion, remember? No social contact? No friends? No little siblings or babies either.”

“And see where it got you. Being a single father at the age of nineteen, living in a shappy flat.” - “It’s not shabby.” - “Let’s not focus on that right now. There is something important you should know abou-” Adrien’s phone lit up again and the boy lifted a hand to interrupt Plagg. He rolled his eyes and flew away, knowing that his chosen would be distracted for the rest of the night.  


* * *

 

Marinette sighed in content as she crawled into her bed for the first time in months. There were stars shining in Paris’ midnight sky and she watched them through the window above her head. It had been an exhausting day, therefore the soft warm sheets were absolute heaven.

“Tikki, you don’t know how much I missed my bed.” she sighed and curled into herself. There was no answer and Mari sat up, rubbing her eyes as she didn’t see her kwami anywhere. “Tikki?” She crawled to the front of the loft and looked down just to see a weird red glow hover over her baby’s sleeping face. She could make out the Kwami’s shape but she seemed to be in some kind of trance. Only seconds later the god snapped out of it, shaking her little head and flew up to her chosen.

“Marinette, aren’t you sleepy? It’s been a long day.” she smiled.

Marinette frowned. “What were you doing? I’ve never seen you glow like that.”

“I…” Tikki’s happy expression faded and she sat down on one of her chosen’s pillows. “There is something I might have to tell you. It’s a bit complicated.” The women crocked her head, showing the Kwami to continue. “Out of all the miraculous, the Ladybug and the Black Cat ones are the strongest, you already know that. Only chosens are able to control the powers of creation and destruction. Therefore you, Chat and all our previous holders are connected very deeply with us, so deeply that it is possible to pass on your powers to the next generation.”

“So you mean... “ Marinette started, pointing a finger to the crib without looking at it, “You mean that Emma might be able to sprout lucky charms out of her fingers?” Her eyes widened but Tikki just crunched her small face together.

“No!” the kwami protested, “It’s actually really uncommon that the powers develop that far. Ladybug children are often very clever and have great ways to solve problems while Black Cat children have very good nightsight and a well feeling for balance. But it’s getting more complicated when both, creation and destruction, come together.”

“It already happened, right? There must have been at least one pair of Ladybug and Chat Noir who had children, right?”

“Our chosen are destined to be together as one, what doesn’t mean they have to be in a romantic relationship but it did happen. It happened only once yet.” Tikki explained and avoided eye contact after that statement.

Mari was curious now. “It only happened once that Ladybug and Chat had a child? I thought it had been more couples.” She curled into her sheets with a soft sigh. “What happened to the child?”

“It is a tragic story. The child knew that it held the power of the world in its hands, powers only archivable by the combination of luck and misfortune, and trained them. He wanted more and more and was willing to fight his parents.” Marinette's eyes widened and gasped. “They combined their Miraculous and had to ban him from the world what was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Plagg and I knew from this day on that we needed to protect our holders because none of them should be able to feel that pain again. We decided to keep their identities secret from then on.”

“So, that is the reason Chat and I can’t reveal ourselves?” Marinette asked, still a bit overwhelmed from that story.

“One of them.” Tikki admitted, “One of many more.”

“And Emma? I mean…” Mari sat up again, gesturing wildly with her hands and brushed the dark her out of her face in worry, “I mean she isn’t Chat’s daughter, she is just mine, Ladybug’s, and Adrien’s, a civilian. There is no way for her to develop those powers, right? She won’t attack us, _right_ ? She will be a sweet little child and she’ll grow up to a sweet teenager without any thoughts of getting all the energy in the world, **right**!?”

“Marinette, breath.” A small hand touched her cheek as the kwami tried to calm her friend down, but it didn’t seem to work much since the dark-haired female started to bite her fingernails. The god sighed. “Marinette, I need you to stay calm. I’ve learnt alot from my past holders and I can tell you surely that I will help you raise Emma the best way to avoid a repeat of that time, okay?”

Taking a deep breath, Marinette tried to relax and she fell back into her pillows. “She isn’t Chat’s child. There is no way for her to have both, his and my powers, correct?”

Tikki didn’t comment on that, instead, she nuzzled into Mari’s neck, bringing her soft comfort. “Stop worrying about what is in the past, what matters is the future. Everything is going to be fine. Now go to sleep, it has been a long day and you need to use every hour of rest you can get with a newborn baby at home.”

“You are right, Tikki. Good night.”

“Good night, Marinette.”


	12. Chapter 12

He was exhausted and tired and just wanted to get to bed. Adrien’s days had been an every repeating process of waking up at half past five for his morning classes, spending his free time with Marinette and Emma and doing his homework in the evening. There was a rumor, saying that parents miss about half amount of their usual daily sleep in the first three years after birth and he came to the conclusion that, yes, this was more than true.

On top of being a student, a father, a superhero and a friend, he still was Adrien Agreste, ex-model and face of the family company. This was his job. This was what he had to do to keep his father paying for his further education.

The new year often started with a company party, which contained talks about past and future goals of Gabriel as well as a lot of handshakes and goodbye speeches from leaving employees. The lights were too bright for his tired eyes and there were too many people. Adrien stood close to the buffet, trying to suppress a yawn. What would he give to be in his flat right now, maybe even playing an online match of video games with Nino? Or he could be at Marinette’s and cuddle his little Emma. The pretty little-

“Did you notice that the boss has a new picture in his office?” a voice interrupted his thoughts and Adrien turned his head to its source. Three women stood a few meters away from him. A dark-skinned one with wild brown curly hair, a small ginger haired one and a tall blonde. They worked in the marketing department, he knew that.

“What kind of picture?” Ginger asked interestedly.

“A baby picture,” Curly answered and took a sip of her drink. “I saw it some days ago when I had to bring a test print for the special fashion week issue to the boss. It looks a bit out of place, considering that he only had photos of his family on his desk.”

Blondie shrugged. “Maybe he received the picture as a present from one of his top designers? Martha should have given birth by now, shouldn’t she?”

“Nah. Martha is still pregnant, saw her yesterday.” Redhead scrunched her face. “Besides that, Gabriel Agreste isn’t the kind of boss to put baby pics of his employees in his office. Maybe a relative of him had a child?”

“I do have my own theory about it.” Adrien didn’t have to look over to the three woman to feel their stares on him. He acted like he hadn’t heard them, pretending to be busy with his glass. They turned their bodies and started to gush.

“No way!” - “That can’t be true!” - “Are you sure?” - “But he’s so young!” - “And doesn’t date!”

“Guys, guys, guys.” Curly interrupted the wild chatter, “It would explain a lot. A reporter team was here to gather information about the company and one of the interviewers asked if there was a new addition to the Agreste family.”

Red still wasn’t convinced. “What if they were just trying to make rumors?”

“They said a trustworthy source informed them.”

“Madame.” A new, fourth voice appeared and Adrien knew exactly who it was. Nathalie stood tall above the women with her tablet in her hands. She looked like a mother cat ready to protect her young ones and the blonde sighed in relief. “The Agreste’s are busy people and public persons. Rumors spread around fast these days and while you are free to think and imagine whatever you want, I do want to remind you of the contract you have signed and the pledge of secrecy you agreed to. Now, if you would like to move your conversation to somewhere else please.” The three women looked at each other and then hurried away while whispering. Nathalie nodded to herself, then approached Adrien.

“Thank you for standing up for me, Nathalie, I didn’t know that there were rumors about me being a father.” Adrien sighed and rubbed his neck. It had been a wonder that the press hadn’t noticed anything but maybe the time was finally here.

His father’s assistant narrowed her eyes. “Did you tell a stranger about the pregnancy or that Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng’s baby is yours?”

“Emma. The baby’s name is Emma.” he tried to correct but decided to stop as he saw Nathalie’s expression, “And no, we didn't. I mean, we didn’t care much if people saw us together so maybe someone started to connect the dots? It was just a matter of time, really.”

“Well, if I could give you an advice.” the older woman started and pinched her glasses back, “The media will be busy with fashion week soon so you have the chance to make everything public yourself before anyone can make a big story out of your situation.”

Adrien crunched his face together and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Why can’t I just be a normal person, living life like anybody else? It’s just my stupid name that makes things complicated.”

“Adrien. I have seen you grow up into the man that you are today from an early age on and, if you like it or not, there have been many privileges that come with having the Agreste name, even though it might not seem like a big deal to you right now. I am sure that many of your friends would have loved to have a life like yours.” Nathalie looked at the embarrassed boy who was rubbing his neck now. “Now, we just have to wait and see how the name is going to affect your daughter.”

“Yeah. Let’s hope she will have a good childhood.”

“I am sure you are going to manage it well as the father.” They stood in silence for some minutes, Adrien eating a little piece of cake. He then stopped and looked over to his father’s assistant.

“Nathalie? Could I ask you for a favor?”   
  


* * *

 

 

“Tickets for fashion week!?” Marinette squealed with excitement. “I’ve always wanted to go to fashion week! Thank you so much!” His smile was bright as his friend did a cute wiggle and pressed the tickets to her chest.

“I am glad that you like it. It’s the least I can do.”  He would have hugged her if his arms hadn’t been occupied with the little three weeks old. She was sleeping softly, drool dripping from the side of her mouth but it was the most adorable sight in the world.

Marinette took full advantage of the deep sleep, not lowering her voice at all. “This is going to be so amazing! Two of my favourite designers did a collaboration and I am so excited to see the results! And Gabriel presents the new evening gowns, right?” She grinned dreamily for a moment but the expression fell suddenly. “But who is going to look after Emma then? I can’t leave her alone for too long.”

“Oh.” Adrien blinked. Of course, they had to calculate Emma into their lives now. She still heavily relayed on her mother and while she literally slept a lot, she still needed someone to look after her. “I mean I could watch her for an hour or two if you don’t mind. Or I could give the tickets back if we don’t find a solution.”

She sighed. “We should wait a bit and see how things are in the future. Emma could either become really clingy and needy or really chill. I mean up to now everything she does is sleeping. Maybe I am worrying too much.”

“She does nap a lot.” he agreed and gently brushed some of the dark hair out of his daughter’s face. “And pulling on things.”

“Don’t you say. Remember the hand knitted scarf my mother made? Ripped. And she grabbed, like, a handful of my hair yesterday.” Marinette waved her bangs aside and crunched her face by the sight of blueish locks falling down. “Eighteen and already losing hair.”

He remembered when he first met Marinette back in College when they were four years younger and her fluffy pigtails. They always looked like little balls of soft silky yarn and he never knew how she managed to keep them just so… full. And whenever she let her hair down it seemed like an endless sea of darkness. It had lost some of its glow and volume now.

“Sorry for that again.” Adrien apologized, “Kind of partly my fault, right?”

A soft smile spread across her face again, so full of love that he felt the heat rising to the tip of his ears. Her fingers touched the baby’s hand softly and fondly. “Nah. It is definitely worth it.” She stepped closer, making him remember that he was still standing in the middle of her very pink bedroom but all he could see were those blue eyes with whom Marinette looked up at him. And then she leaned on his arm, pushed herself up and pressed a gentle kiss to the blonde’s burning cheeks. “If anything I have to thank you for this, Adrien.”

He couldn’t forget the feeling of her lips on his skin for the rest of the day.

 

* * *

 

“It’s almost time for patrol,” Plagg commented. The cat-like kwami normally didn’t care if his chosen went to meet up with his Ladybug or not but Adrien was acting weird.

Shaking his head, the ex-model came back to his senses. “What did you say?”

“Patrol? You don’t wanna go? That’s perfectly fi-”

“Oh. Thanks for reminding me.” Adrien stood up and pushed his plate in the sink. A side effect of having an open kitchen living room space was that the whole flat started to smell easy and he crossed the room to open a window. “Maybe I can stop by the bakery after patrol and check on Marinette and Emma again?” Plagg gave Adrien a look and the boy crossed his arms. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just nice to see that something in your oblivious brain finally snapped.”

Adrien lifted his finger in protest. “She is not my girlfriend!” A blush crept its way on his face but he tried to suppress it without much success. If Plagg had eyebrows, he would wiggle them right now. Instead, he lazily twitched his whiskers and tail in amusement. He then zapped off to the living room table and lifted Adrien’s phone in the air.

“She’s on your lock screen.”

The blonde sprinted over and grabbed the object, hiding it behind his back. “Emma is in that picture too, you know. And it’s a nice one of her.” His father had insisted to invite a professional photographer for Emma’s first baby pictures and Marinette hadn’t been very happy about it at first but admitted how well they turned out in the end anyway. “It’s just a picture, now shut up.” The blush just became stronger.

For a minute they both just starred. A smirk appeared on Plagg’s face then, one of his fangs showed. “Denial.” he almost hissed.

“What? No!” - “Deniaaaaaaall.” The sing-song voice of the black cat kwami continued over Adrien’s protest and he flowed in circles around his chosen. Pressing one of his hands over his face, Adrien tried to ignore the teasing but there was only one way left to stop it.

“Plagg, claws out!” The voice disappeared as the kwami got sucked into the ring and Chat took a deep breath before dropping his hand. “Note to myself: Put Plagg on a diet.” With one last sight through the room, he turned around and jumped out of the window.

The weather was pretty cold for the middle of February and there was a small layer of ice on the rooftops. Chat tried to fully concentrate on where he put his feet. He almost reached the usual meeting place as suddenly a scream interrupted his thoughts and something crashed into the poor boy’s side, knocking him off his feet. It would have been a pretty hurtful fall for a civilian but the suit protected him enough.

“What the hell.” The cat superhero breathed as he rolled around to check the situation. A few feet away sat Ladybug on the ground, rubbing her head in pain as she groaned.

“Sorry.” She dropped her hand, “I didn’t expect to slide all across the roof after landing…”

“I’m fine. Is everything alright with you?” Chat stood up and helped his partner on her own feet again. Ladybug nodded and rubbed some dirt from her legs. “I am glad that you could make it here but it doesn’t seem like the perfect day for a long route around the city.”

“I agree. Let us just sit down and talk?” Ladybug didn’t even wait for Chat Noir’s answer as she already slumped down on the floor again and huffed. He chuckled, sitting down across from her. “Number one priority should be to get back into shape, at least for me. Hawkmoth could be back to attacking us any day now.”

“True. I didn’t even think about that.” He tapped his fingers against his legs and stared over the city. “That’s going to be hard for you, right? Watching out for your baby while also fighting supervillains.”

Ladybug sighed and that was the moment he saw her tired eyes. She looked exhausted. “I know… It’s been some rough days and I’ve barely slept but it is what it is.” She shrugged and smiled gently. “Still love my child so it is okay and there are many people who help me too.”

“Yeah, I can totally understand that. I’ve been hanging out with my friend a lot and help her with the kid,” he stated and Ladybug turned her full attention to him. She raised an eyebrow under her mask and leaned her head against a leg. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I don’t know. It’s just weird to imagine you in that position. But I guess you have always been good with children.” She frowned. “But doesn’t your friend have a boyfriend who helps her?”

“No, she’s single.”

“Wow.” Ladybug turned her sight back to the city. “You must like your friend a lot for taking that burden upon you. A child is not an easy task.”

“It’s no big deal, honestly. Actually, I’m quite responsible for the child since it is my ow-“ Ladybug’s yo-yo started to vibrate and the middle spot blinked bright red. She instantly opened it to check why the alarm went off.

“Oh.” The spotted superhero breathed. “My kwami is probably trying to tell me to get back home. It’s already quite late.”

Chat visibly relaxed, his hand retreating from his staff. “So no real danger?”

“Nope.” Ladybug giggled. “But I do need to bug out now. Have a good night, Chat, and take good care of your friend.”

“I’ll try my best. Good night, my lady.” They exchanged a last smile and waved before his partner threw her weapon and jumped from the building. Patrols seemed to be different from before now. Just sitting and talking was fine and for some reason, Chat couldn’t find himself mad at her for having to leave earlier. In the end, he went straight home.


	13. Chapter 13

“These are cute,” Alya stated and stopped. Marinette came to a halt in the middle of the busy store, trying not to block the way with the baby carriage. Her best friend was looking through bathing suits. “Oh! This one is totally your style too!” The redhead revealed a two-part pink bikini with various flowers plastered all over it. “Why don’t you wear it when we both go to the spa?”

“Alya. Did you even listen to me in the past five minutes?” Marinette groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Duh. Course I did. You can’t go to fashion week because of your mother complex.” Alya said without even looking up.

Mari blushed. “I don’t have a mother complex.”

“Then why is it so hard for you to leave Emma alone with her father for, I don’t know, two or three hours? If it’s really unbearable we could still take her with us.”

“No thank you.” the dark haired girl complained, “My definition of a relaxing spa visit doesn’t include a two-month-old baby. Besides that, I’m still not feeling well enough in my skin yet. You might not be able to see it, but I still have a little bump and terrible looking stripes all over my body.”

Alya crocked an eyebrow at her best friend. “Stop acting like stretch marks are the worst thing in the world. They are only natural.” She actually lifted her shirt up, revealing a bit of her stomach. “Look, even I got some.”

Marinette took a deep breath. “You won’t stop until I agree, will you?”

“You know me, girl! Now, is that a yes to that pretty swimsuit here?” 

“It’s a maybe since I still don’t know where to leave my child while we are gone.” She turned back around to check on said child. Emma was silent but awake and took her surroundings in with her big eyes which had started to turn from blue to an intense shade of green in the past weeks. The more time passed, the more she started to look like Adrien and it almost melted the young mother’s heart.

“I don’t want to repeat myself but… leave her with Sunshine,” spoke Alya again as she fished a black one piece out of the rack. “Emma is so focused on you and I have the bad feeling that it could backfire in the future if she doesn't get to hang out with her dad too.” The two girls looked at each other and Alya smiled gently as she took her friend into a warm hug. “Look, whenever he is around, you are too. Let him have a day completely alone with his little girl.”

“But, Als! I need to prepare so many things then!” Marinette moaned and caused her friend to laugh.

“I know! That’s the fun of being a parent.”

“Please remind me why I decided to become a mother at the age of eighteen again?”

“Because you accidentally hooked up with your crush. Now, let’s go to the check out, I’m paying for that pretty new bikini.” They started to make they were to the store exit as Alya rolled her shoulders. “Did you notice that Ladybug is back? I haven’t seen her myself but some followers of the Ladyblog saw her on night patrol with Chat Noir.”

“Really?” Marinette smiled tightly and gripped the handle of the carriage harder. “Great news.”

“I know, right? Let’s hope that Hawk Moth stays away for another month or two because our superhero duo seems kind of… off, you know?” The redhead put the things down on the counter and turned around to her best friend. “I mean, Ladybug looked like she had some tough month while being away.”

Marinette shrugged. “Maybe she had.” 

Alya looked skeptically at Mari’s defensive tone but didn’t say anything else.

 

* * *

 

One perk of being a young parent was that you had time. Marinette had only been home for about nine weeks but she had already finished many of her design projects. A new sweatshirt, scarf and some small little gloves lay on top of her desk and an endless amount of sketches were just waiting to be made into a real object.

But the side effect of having time was that boredom wasn’t that far away either, especially for a young girl like Marinette. Sabine noticed that and tried to entertain her daughter by giving her tasks to do. Today wasn’t different and, therefore, Mari didn’t think twice as her mother ordered her to get some groceries. It was also a good opportunity for her and Emma to get out of the house every once in a while.

“Tea. Green tea.” Marinette read off the shopping list and entered the small aisle. As soon as she stepped away from the carriage, a small complain escaped Emma and the young mother had to cancel her plans. “Give me one minute to find your grandmother’s favourite tea, Emmy, and I’ll be all yours again.” she whispered and swiped some drool off the baby’s face.

Tikki flew out of Marinette’s coat pocket and gently nuzzled into Emma’s neck. The kwami winked at her chosen and nodded barely visible to show her to move on. With a thankful smile, Mari retreated from the carriage, just to clumsily bump into another person, making them drop their things.

“I am so sorry!” they both started at the same time and reached towards the fallen bananas. 

“I’m a real klutz, sorry.” Mari sighed and picked up a newspaper.

The guy across from her chuckled. “Don’t worry, Marinette.” Her eyes flicked upwards to meet light blue ones and her heart stopped for a second as she took in the familiar face. Nathaniel. 

“Nath! I haven’t seen you in a while!” she smiled and they both exchanged a quick hug. “You didn’t change much!” He really hadn’t. Nathaniel Kurtzberg was one of those guys that fully develop in their last years of puberty. His growth spurt hadn’t fully started until he turned seventeen, leaving him almost as tall as Adrien by the end of the year. Beside that, he hadn’t cut his hair since starting lyceé and it was now safely secured in a small ponytail.

“You neither.” the boy answered while taking his fallen things from her. “How’s it going?”

“Fine, I guess. I heard that you got into art school but never had the chance to ask you about it. Is it as good as you expected?”

“It’s exhausting, Marinette.” Nathaniel said while looking for tea himself. “My main subjects are storyboard and storytelling but I also wanted to take a look at animation. I am basically drawing all day everyday for or in school and that leads to quite some artblocks when I want to work on my webcomic.” They both whined at the same time. “But it’s alright. Art school offers many great opportunities for young artists so I’ll just try to survive.”

Marinette had found the tea she was looking for and put it in the basket next to the baby carriage.

“And what are you currently doing? Babysitting?” But the question was left unanswered as he looked fastly between his ex-classmate and the baby. “Wait. You aren’t pregnant anymore?”

“I’m not.” She stepped aside to officially present Emma to Nathaniel as he approached the carriage and peaked in it.

“Naw… that’s yours?” He cooed and boobed the little girl’s nose.

“That’s mine.” Mari agreed, brushing some hair out of her face. “Her name is Emma by the way.”

“Emma, huh?” Marinette chuckled as he tapped the nose again, making Emma scrunch her face in confusion. “But she doesn’t have any chinese features? Well, considering that her dad is Adrien Agreste this should not be a surprise.” They continued to stand in the middle of the aisle and Nathaniel kept talking. “Coming to think of it, I’ve never quite realized that you were pregnant. Of course, there were rumors but since we had different classes it was just really easy to ignore. Congratulations anyway.”

“Yeah, I guess the only person to actually make a scene had been Chloé.” The memory of the blonde accusing her of using Adrien to gain popularity snapped into her mind and Marinette folded her arms. New customers entered the aisle and they both decided to continue their shopping.

“Speaking of Chloé.” Nath said while sneaking a hand behind Mari’s back to grab a bag of pasta, “She is trying to get everyone together for a class meet up so if you are still in contact with Alya and Nino could you ask them to write her an email, please?”

The dark haired girl folded her arms over her chest. “And you know that why… ?”

Nathaniel looked a bit ashamed and blushed with a shy smile. “We are kind of a thing, you know?”

“You are what?” Marinette was at a loss for words. “But… you… she… she humiliates you so much back in school and now you are dating?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. I had to do a project for which I had to make a mini-comic with only one location and I choose the Grand Palais Paris. So we met there, started to talk and… Chloé had some rough months. She broke up with her boyfriend because he cheated on her shortly after graduation and since Sabrina studies in the Netherlands now and her pride is to strong to get back into contact with Adrien, Chloé had no one to talk to. Honestly, she was just really broken.”

“Oh.” The dark haired blinked while moving to the check out. “That’s really rough.”

Nathaniel smiled softly and bumped his shoulder against hers. “Chloé and you are very similar, you know?” He laughed by the bewildered expression on Marinette’s face. “You both are very strong women. You guys like to focus on a particular goal and call people out for being wrong. I know that Chloé hasn’t been very nice to us in the past but she can be very careful and gentle, too… in her own way. Maybe you could actually give her a chance and try to become friends with her?”

“I’ll think about it.” she answered and finally paid for all of her things. After leaving the store, Nath explained that he still needed to buy bread and used it as an excuse to escort the girls home. Their conversation moved to various topics and as they reached the bakery Marinette lead him inside through the back door.

-

Adrien nearly hit his head at the display case as the back door of the bakery fell close and Sabine laughed. After coming over to check on his kid, only to find that Marinette wasn’t home yet, he had decided to help a bit in the shop. The blonde rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment only to look up and see a familiar tomato head.

“Nice to see you, Adrien,” Nath said and leaned over the counter to get a better look at the different kind of breads.

“Uh…-”

“Maman, I got everything you needed.” A plastic bag hit the side of the counter and Marinette leaned over to peck her mother’s cheek. She then smiled in surprise at the sight of Adrien next to her. “Hey, Adrien! I didn’t expect you to be here so soon.”

He rubbed his chin. “Yeah, my schedule changed, sorry for not telling you.” Stepping to the side, he watched as Sabine rung up Nathaniel, who said goodbye to Mari with a quick wave. It made him snap back into reality. “Where’s Emma?”

“Oh, she just fell asleep some minutes ago and I figured I’ll leave her in the carriage for a while.” She pointed behind her and he only had to look above his friend’s head for a second to see Emma’s rosy cheeks above the pink blanket. Marinette stole a macaroon from the display case and her mother just shook her head fondly.

“A letter arrived for you.” Sabine said, “It should be laying on the stairs.”  The younger woman raised her eyebrows but turned around to look for the letter anyway. Adrien released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. The past few minutes had left him quite confused. Seeing Nathaniel without really being prepared to bump into anyone of his previous classmates was quite overwhelming for some reason. A loud high pitched sound made him almost jump.

“Maman!” Marinette called and rushed back into the bakery, scaring some customers. “Maman, I’m going to ESMOD!” She gripped her mother’s arms and the older woman didn’t react right away.

“What do you mean, sweetheart?”

The bold logo of the university was printed in the corner of the paper which Marinette was waving through the air. “They offered me a new scholarship! An anonymous friend of the uni heard of my situation and personally contacted them!” She jumped up and down in pure happiness and Adrien felt a warmth spread through his body. Somehow, Sabine was able to snitch the letter and read it herself.

“They say that you have to attend an entrance examination and send a portfolio.”

The girl played with her lose hair for a second. “I know. But I can totally prepare for that! And if everything goes right I might be able to start classes in October.” Both women started to smile and Sabine called for her husband, who wrapped everyone into a tight hug.

Adrien smiled at the sight, hands clasped together in front of his body while standing a bit off to the side. This was his doing and he felt incredible proud for having been able to make everyone feel so much joy.

Tom noticed the boy and shortly pulled him in between him and Marinette. She grinned so much, he felt his heart swell and it nearly stopped beating as she managed to sling her arms around his waist.


	14. Chapter 14

Emma was almost four months old as Adrien had the chance to spend a whole day alone with his daughter. He was on semester break and worked in the same music store as Nino three times a week to earn some extra cash. Having spent the rest of his spare time with Mari and Emma, she finally agreed to let him watch her since Alya had, somehow, convinced her to go to the spa. There were a lot of things she was worried about. ‘Do you have enough diapers?’ and ‘Should I show you how to prepare a bottle again?” were the most asked questions in the past twenty-four hours.

 

> >What are you doing?<

 

Marinette stared down at her phone in concern. Adrien hadn’t answered yet and it made her fidget more than she liked.

“Girl, are you still alive?” Alya mused and knocked on the changing room door. “I’ve been waiting for ten minutes and I don’t think it’s very relaxing to stand on cold tiles.” Marinette sighed and turned her phone off, then collected her bag and towels before opening the door.

“Sorry, I had some troubles with my swimsuit.” she excused herself and tried to smile while walking towards the entrance of the spa area.

“Mh.” her friend hummed, “Why does it feel like you had a problem with letting go of your phone?” The quiet ‘meep’ from Mari made her laugh. “Oh, come on! Loose up! Don’t you trust Adrien?”

“Of course I trust him!” Marinette protested, “I just want to know what they are up to.... you know, to make sure that they are fine.” She shrugged, making Alya snort.

“Whatever you say, girl.”

 

-

 

Adrien’s knee hit the table and he rubbed his face. He was about to meet Chloé after almost a whole year and he was afraid of her reactions towards his baby, sitting on his lap in the middle of the Grand Palais Paris. He mindlessly brushed through her thick, almost black hair.

Ladybug had tried to give him some advice on how to approach friends you haven’t seen in a while but all of her tips seemed oddly ridiculous now that the moment was so close. It wasn’t like Chloé had become a stranger, he still followed her on social media, but their last encounter was quite… unpleasant.

“What’s up, Agreste.” Speaking of unpleasant. Chloé had managed the sneak up on him from behind, rounding the table without even sparing him one glance. She didn’t change much. Her hair was up in a high ponytail and she wore a yellow shirt with a small pocket on the left side of her chest, combined with a white skirt. 

Adrien sighed. “Hello, Chloé. You look nice.”

“I know. Of course, I do!” She finally decided to look up from her perfectly manicured nails but immediately scrunched her face. “What. Is. This?” Chloé’s voice went multiple octaves high as she pointed at the baby in Adrien’s lap. Emma used that exact moment to make some gibberish sounds through her pacifier and tried to grab the tablecloth.

“A human child,” Adrien answered and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t play with me.” Chloé hissed dangerously. She then leaned over the table to get a better few at the said child. “Honestly, what is this?”

“Her name is Emelia, you can call her Emma though.”

The blonde across from Adrien raised her eyebrows. “Emelia? Sounds like something Dupain-Cheng would come up with.”

“Mari did choose the name.” Adrien agreed but cringed at the use of the full name, “But yeah, that’s my child.”

“You sure? Did you test it?”

“No, because I’m one hundred percent convinced that Emma’s my kid.” They both shot daggers back and forth over the table. A waiter arrived and put Adrien’s ordered coffee down. Chloé, in her typical style, snarled at him to get her a latte. She then folded her arms and watched Adrien trying to sip his drink without dropping his child.

“Your parenting skills are great, honey,” she commented and winked, making Adrien look at her in annoyance. “First time holding  _ your  _ child?” Adrien would have answered if it wasn’t for Emma putting her pointer finger in his mouth and Chloé laughed.

“Can you maybe hold her for a minute? I think she needs a toy to stay busy with her hands.”

“What!? No!” The blonde woman protested and lifted her arms in protest as Adrien stood up. “No, forget it, Agreste! I am not going to hold your stupid child.”

“C’mon, Chlo… she is not going to bite you.” he took the pacifier out of Emma’s mouth, “See? She doesn’t even have teeth yet.”

Chloé frowned in disgust and pointed at the dripping drool. “But she’ll stain my shirt.” Adrien dipped his head to the side, giving her his best puppy, or rather kitten, eyes and the woman groaned. “Fine, but only for a minute.”

“Thanks!” He gently sat his baby down on his childhood friend’s lap and she hesitantly wrapped her hands around the small waist to steady the kid. Adrien pushed his hair back and then reached for the bag to search for the plushies Marinette had packed. It was almost comedical how much Emma loved the Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls, Mari once mentioned that they helped her a lot to calm down. Adrien knew that it probably wasn’t a coincidence.

“Chat Noir? Really? That kid is so Marinette.” Chloé rolled her eyes as Adrien handled the superhero puppet to Emma, who immediately started to chew on the cat ears. She looked adorable with her bright green eyes, wearing a similar coloured onesie.

“What has Chat Noir to do with that?” he asked seriously, leaning his elbow on the table and propped his chin on his hand, his focus never leaving his child.

Chloé scoffed. “Isn’t it obvious? Marinette is a real Chat Noir fan! I, to my part, think that he is just Ladybug’s dorky sidekick. Like, she would catch akumas so much faster if it wasn’t for him!” He tried to hide the embarrassment but his friend continued without even noticing. “But, of course, Marinette has to stand up for him. ‘He’s not just a sidekick! They are equals’. Bla. Bla. Bla.”

“I think it was quite admirable that Chat patrolled on his own while Ladybug was away.”

“Maybe.” Chloé’s latte arrived and it was only then that she noticed Emma still sitting on her lap. “Now, take your child back, Adrikins, we’re here to talk about what  _ I’ve  _ done in the past year.”

He chuckled. “Still the same as ever I see.”   
  


* * *

 

 

Marinette knew that she was annoying the woman who was currently doing her toenails with her anxious wiggle. Heck, she even annoyed herself. Alya lifted one of the cucumber slices off her eye.

“We’ve been here for one and a half hour already and you’re still not relaxed?”

“I am relaxed!” Mari leaned back in the chair and stretched, “See? Totally relaxed?” She wasn’t relaxed at all.

Her best friend shrugged and closed her eyes again. “We are not leaving until you are chill. What do you wanna do next? A massage or maybe the sauna?”

“Urg.” Marinette groaned and slumped her shoulders, “You are going to be the death of me, Alya Cesaire.”

Alya would have winked if she had been able to but instead she just smirked and pointed a finger gun at her dark-haired friend.   
  


* * *

 

 

“Woah. You didn’t tell me you’d bring Em.” Nino said after opening the door. He only wore some shorts and a shirt, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Hello to you too, dude. Did you sleep until now?” Adrien entered the flat, lazily peeling off his shoes. “I texted you about bringing Emma. Mari is out with Alya today.”

The other boy nodded and grabbed a basecap to hide his messy bed hair. “Been a long night. Haven’t checked my phone since two so sorry. Make yourself comfortable, Ron is out of the house for the rest of the day.”

Nino’s flat was… interesting to say the least. He met his flatmate Ron at work, moving in with him two weeks after graduation. They both were passionate DJs but while Nino was taking things slow and chill, Ron liked to live in a rush. And that was how their flat looked like too. There were dirty dishes and pots in the sink, clothes on the floor and a thick layer of dust on every possible furniture.  

Adrien tried to not step on an empty pizza box while making his way to the sofa. He scrunched his nose. “You want me to hire a maid, bro?”

“Dude, I’ve been thinking about asking you the same thing.” Nino draped himself on the sofa. “Nette would totally get a heart attack if she knew Emma is here, right? I mean, I would have cleaned up a bit but… yeah.”

“It’s alright.” Adrien sighed, “Emma fell asleep on our way here so we can play some games if you want? But she might get hungry soon too.” He gently tugged the hat from the little girl’s head, not wanting to wake her up. His friend leaned closer.

“Dang, I know I haven’t seen Em in a while but look how dark her hair became! It’s definitely Marinette.” Nino turned the TV on and threw a controller to Adrien. “But the face is all you.”

The blonde struck a pose, holding his hands below his chin with a perfect smile. “Happy to give these genes to my child. I haven’t been voted ‘teen face of the year’ for nothing.” Nino muttered some cursed under his breath while starting the game.

"Why am I friends with you?" They chuckled.

Video games had been the only thing connecting the boys after graduation. Kim and Max were regular players and even Ivan joined every once in a while for a team match. For Adrien it had finally felt like he was a real part of a real group back in college, not counting his partnership with Ladybug. And they only became better and better with each match.

Emma awoke after half an hour, stopping the boys from playing as she needed full attention. But a baby was still a baby.

“Did she…?” Nino asked and turned away after leaning too close. “Bro, I think someone has some full diapers.”

“Really?” Adrien took his child, lifting her high enough to check the smell himself and then sighed. “Clean your dining table, please? Do you have a tower or blanket somewhere?”

In a matter of a few minutes, the kitchen table had been turned into a clean surface, blankets draped on top with Emma laying in the middle of it, blinking up at the two men with her bright green eyes.

Nino bumped his shoulder into Adrien’s. “Why do I get the feeling that you don’t know how to change a diaper.”

“Hey. I did visit a parent preparations course, remember?” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s just that I’ve never done it all by myself with a real baby.”

The other boy stepped back and held his hand up. “I am not going to help you. Don’t want to be responsible for hurting the little angel. Beside that, you are the father.” Adrien rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything as he tried to untangle Emmy’s legs from her plants.

“It’s not like she’ll die as soon as you touch her but anyway. Mari usually helps me to keep her in place since her kicks can be quite-” Adrien didn’t get to finish his sentence as Emma stretched her knee, hitting the box of powder off the table. “-strong.” The floor was covered in white and Nino checked his black, now light grey, shirt.

“Don’t you say.” He rubbed his forehead, smearing more powder on his face. “Think about signing her up for karate classes when she’s older.” 

The blonde snorted and finished the task. The next problem was the trashcan, full with leftover food and paper and Adrien scrunched his nose at the dirty smell. Nino on the other side just pulled out a plastic bag from a drawer and threw it to his friend. Adrien shrugged, putting the dirty diaper into the bag and putting it on top of the trashcan.

“I should warm up a bottle too.” The young father said and looked through every pocket of the carefully packed backpack to find the mentioned bottle. He pulled it out with a triumphant smile. “Got it!”

Nino gave him a thumbs up. “Perfect. You think we can play another match while the thing is on the stove? Kim should be back from his smoke break.”

“Sure.” Adrien hit the button on the stove, turning it all the way to left and then picked up Emma to follow his friend back into the living room.   
  


* * *

“How are you planning to visit uni when you can’t even leave Emma alone with Adrien, her  _ dad _ , for three hours?” Alya asks while trying to dry her hair roughly with a towel.

“There is a daycare on campus which I need to apply for as soon as we know if I get the scholarship. It's not the best thing but at least it's something.” Marinette shrugged, brushing through her bangs. “Beside that, Emma will be nine months old when uni starts… not four.”

“Literally same thing. But alright, it’s your kid after all, not my place to judge.” They catch each other’s eyes in the mirror and Mari rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. I am going to call Adrien to let him know that we are finished now.”

 

* * *

 

 

Nino threw the controller across the sofa, deadly glaring at Adrien who just opened the menu in the middle of an intense game. But his phone was ringing and only seeing Marinette’s profile picture on the screen was enough to distract  him. He stood up and left his annoyed friend.

“Hey, Mari.” Adrien greeted her softly.

“Hey. Uh, I just wanted to know where you guys are? Me and Alya are about to exit the spa in a few minutes.” The background was loud and it almost sounded like people were blow drying their hair.

“I am at Nino’s but we could meet at your house?” Nino glared at Adrien while turning the TV off.

Mari hummed. “No, I’ll pick her up from his place. His flat should only be like twenty minutes away from here.”

Adrien pointed at his friend. “Twenty minutes? You really don’t have to come _ here _ .” He really tried to put as much pressure on the word as possible and it had the right effect on his friend as he jumped up and mouthed  _ ‘What!?’ _ .

“It’s fine. Did Emma eat already?”

Another revelation dawned on Adrien and he pointed at the kitchen door. Nino understood immediately and started to run. “No, she did not.” he answered in panic and brushed some hair out of his face. “Twenty minutes you said? Take your time, see you later! Bye!” Marinette sounded confused as Adrien ended the call abruptly.

“This is not good, dude, not good at all.” Nino said as the blonde entered the kitchen. The milk had dripped over the edges of the pot, leaving ugly brown staines on the stove. “Okay. I’ll put Emma into my bedroom and start to clean the living room, you take over the kitchen.”

“Alright.” Adrien agreed and started to make a quick plan in his head. Powder still lay on the floor as well as the blankets on the table. The two boys parted ways, focusing on their parts. Vacuum cleaner noises filled the area and buckets of water were used to rub every stain away.

The flat was as clean as it had never been before in only seventeen minutes. Nino even managed to bring the trash downstairs into the basement. Adrien checked every corner of the living space again as his friend hid the vacuum cleaner in the second bedroom. 

Then Nino looked down on himself, his previous black shirt still light grey from leftover powder. “I’ll change. Mari could be here any minute now.”

“I know.” Adrien kicked an empty bottle under the sofa and sighed. He would have never described himself as a bad father but he had to admit that parenting was harder than expected. Especially without Marinette’s help. She had his full respect.

The doorbell rang and Adrien sprinted over, tapping the little button that would open the front door. His heart was beating fastly with every passing second until footsteps were clearly audible. Mari appeared, her hair waving freely as she smiled at him.

“Hey, Mari.”

“Hey, Adrien.” She hugged him shortly, stepping into the flat and looking around with big eyes. “Wow. So that is Nino’s place? I’ve never been in here before.”

“That’s it.” He prayed she wouldn’t notice anything strange, he really did. “Emma is in his room.”

Marinette nodded. “Good. And where is Nino?”

“Here!” The boy appeared, wearing new clean clothes as he crossed the room to greet the girl. Adrien and Nino shot glances to each other. Mari put her things on the sofa and started to put her hair up in a ponytail.

“Well,” she said “if you don’t mind I’d go and feed Emmy? She won’t eat tonight if we wait too long.”

“Sure thing.” Nino agreed and pointed at the door to his bedroom. Mari nodded, smiled and left the boys alone.

They released a long breath.

“That was tight, dude.” Nino grumpled and Adrien nodded as they bumped their fists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> I just wanted to say that I might have to take another two weeks off posting soon. There are a lot of things I have to finish for school and privately since I am planning to leave the country after this summer.  
> That doesn't mean this fic will be abandoned! There will be some long weekends in the following month and hopefully, I'll be able to prewrite more chapters. If not, we have to take one Sunday off from updating again.  
> Besides that, I wanted to thank everyone who is reading this story and is leaving kudos/comments again! It really means a lot to me! :))


	15. Chapter 15

June was warm and June was sunny in Paris. People started to spend a lot of time outside again as the days became longer and longer. Except for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The bakery was a creative chaos as the young mother spent all of her free time designing and creating, trying to level up her portfolio while also trying to prepare for her entrance examination at ESMOD.

Adrien just always smiled and listened to Mari’s rambles about fabrics and colours and shapes while he watched over Emma who had started to crawl through the room. She developed incredibly fast.

Right now, he sat in front of the TV in the living room while waiting for Marinette to get ready. Today was an important day for her since she finally had to attend the entrance examination against three other talented designers.

Emma lay on the floor, her big eyes focused on the TV in an almost hypnotic way while he brushed his fingers through her long dark hair. ‘We Dupains have hair that grows pretty fast’ Tom had explained some months prior ‘It runs in the family’. That statement was more than true. Emma’s hair had become so long that she constantly bit down on loose strands and at some point, Sabine had started to pull it back into pigtails.

“I am ready!” The trap door opened and Mari walked down the stairs while wrapping her hair up in a bun. She looked good, wearing a light blue dress and leather jacket with black heels. “Thank you so much for looking after Emmy again. Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.” She looked through the kitchen, putting cookies into her purse and sneaking one between her own lips.

“My pleasure. You know that watching over her isn’t a burden for me.” Adrien nodded to himself. “By the way, would you be so nice and give me my phone? It should be on the counter.”

“Sure.” Marinette grabbed the black object. She didn’t plan on accidentally hitting the button on the bottom, making the screen light up and she definitely didn’t plan to overstep boundaries and reading one of his text messages.

 

> Sasha:
> 
> >>Hey babe, are u home tomorrow? I really need to pick up the...<<

 

Even though she could only see the start of the text, Mari started to feel uneasy. Marinette never personally met Sasha, she just knew that the woman was one of Adrien’s friends from university. But _Babe_ was such a weird nickname coming from someone that Adrien was supposed to just know as his friend.

“Mari?” She snapped out of it and dropped the phone next to Adrien on the sofa, trying to not let him see her burning cheeks. Adrien unlocked the screen and read through his messages and then tapped his foot against the floor. “When are you planning to pick up Emma tomorrow? Sasha is coming over to pick up uni stuff in the afternoon and maybe you guys could finally meet?”

The dark haired girls played with her fingers anxiously. “I’ll pick her up in the morning then… I don’t…” - she swallowed - “I don’t want to interrupt your date.”

“Date?” Adrien stood up in surprise. “Why do you think that it’s a date?”

Mari hunched her shoulders in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to read your texts but I just assumed… things.”

His eyes started to visibly widen and he lifted a hand. “No!”

“No?” Marinette asked confused, “What do you mean ‘no’?”

“It’s not like that, Mari! Sasha, she’s a friend!” he hurried to explain “Like, she is currently sick and Lee is in South Korea because of his mother’s birthday so I am the only one of us three left to attend classes and they both ask for my notes. That’s why she is coming over, okay?” Marinette blinked. “Besides that, Sasha calls everyone _Babe_. Me, Lee, heck, she even called one of our professors _Babe_ but she’s not even into guys!”

The room was completely silent. Mari stepped back. This was… awkward.

“You are allowed to go out with whoever you want,” Mari whispered and nodded to herself.

“Yeah, you too, of course. It’s not like we are committed to us, right? We are friends, right?”

She nodded. “Totally! Uh... I… uhm… I’ll, uh, I should leave now…” This time Marinette walked around Adrien, picking up Emma from her blanket on the floor and kissed her on the cheek. “I am going to miss you so much tonight, my little angel, be nice to your papa, alright?” She kissed the baby a second time and then pressed her into Adrien’s arms. “Good luck, call me in emergencies.”

“Yes, yes.” Adrien was still a bit overwhelmed and blushed as he watched his friend lean down the last time, gently whispering ‘I love you’ into Emma’s hair and then stepping back to say goodbye to both of them.

His heart was racing, cheeks burning as he looked down at his little girl. This situation was just a bit weird.

 

* * *

 

“Dude!” Nino called and snapped Adrien out of his thoughts. The boy held his controller tighter as his character started to move. “Okay, listen: I know that Kim is usually the one protecting the base and you play in fight mode but he’s already dead! We need someone back here!”

“I am on my way, Nino, stop screaming or I have to turn the headset off.” Adrien rolled his eyes. The other members of their team were already dead, leaving just the two friends. A wave of other players started to attack their basement.

Nino huffed. “See? We’re about to lose because you weren’t paying attention.” Someone shot Adrien and he groaned, letting the controller fall out of his hands. “Can’t believe you’re leaving me alo- And I am dead.” The loading screen opened. “What’s on your mind, bro? I thought Emma is already in bed?”

“She is! To be honest, Emma isn’t the problem.” the blonde answered and brushed through his hair, then sighed.

“Kim and Max take a break to eat dinner, let’s play some open world mode? I can’t stand multiplayer while your head's in the clouds.”

“Fine.” Adrien rolled his eyes and started the game. He bit his lip for a second, then sighed. “Can I ask you something?”

Nino probably shrugged. “Sure, go on.”

“Do you think… do you think that Mari could be dating someone in the future?” Adrien asked and rubbed the back of his neck. His friend chuckled surprised. “I mean… do you think she would tell me if she ever starts going out with someone?”

“Huh? I guess she would. You both have a child, you deserve to know if another man could possibly be a part of Emma’s life. Why do you ask?” He could hear honest curiosity in his friend’s voice.

“I don’t want another man to take my place as my baby’s father,” Adrien confessed.

“First thing: No one, really, no other person is able to replace you in being Emelia’s dad. At least not in a biological way. But on the other hand, Marinette and you aren’t in a relationship. Maybe there will be another person in her life and she probably wants to get married someday too.” Nino explained.

Adrien curled into himself and blushed. “But I don’t want that. I know it’s wrong to think such thoughts but I don’t want Mari or Emma to leave me behind like that.

A suspicious silence filled the air and Nino clicked his tongue. “Just to make sure, is there a low chance that you may be crushing on Marinette?” A controller hit the floor and Nino shifted on the other side of the line. “Dude?”

Adrien jumped up and started to pace back and forth. “That can’t be true, Nino,” he said, shaking his head. “It can’t be true, Me? Crushing on the amazing, talented and super nice mother of my child. Nope, definitely not.”

“Yep, you are crushing on Mari. One hundred percent.”

“Nino!" the blonde protested, pushing his hair back. "Okay, even if my feelings for Marinette are more then platonic, what am I supposed to do, Nino!? I can’t just ask her out! Not after we literally sealed that we are friends and can date other people this morning!” He sat down on his sofa, admitting defeat and shot Plagg and angry stare. The kwami smirked.

“Why would you do something like that, dumbass!?”

“I didn’t know I liked her back then!”

“This is a mess,” Nino stated. Adrien pressed the palm of his hand against his eyes, hoping that the pain would replace his stupidity. “Seriously, this is the fallout.” At the exact moment, a loud cry started. Emma was awake.

The young father pinched the bridge of his nose. “Duty calls.”

Nino snorted. “Your daughter has an excellent timing for getting you out of risky situations. This talk is not over yet!”

“Let me come to terms with the fact that I’ve been in love with my cute friend bevor telling anyone, okay? This stays between the two of us.” Adrien pleated and tried to pull the headset off of his head.

“No promise.”

They ended the call and the blonde looked at his kwami while walking towards his second bedroom. He never knew what to do with a spare room, turned into an office after moving in and adding baby-related furniture after Emma was born.

Plagg lazily followed his chosen. “Turn her off. I was about to sleep.”

“You can’t turn a baby ‘off’, Plagg,” Adrien complained and opened the door. “You could have at least checked on her.” He flicked the switch for the light. Emma lay inside her small bed, angry tears falling from her cheeks as she moved her arms and legs.

Plagg flew above her face and the little girl stopped crying to curiously watch the black cat. In a matter of seconds, she lifted her hand and grabbed Plagg’s tail, pulling the kwami into a tight hug.

“NO!” he yelled. “Kid get me out of here!” His tail flicked back and forth while the cat tried to escape.

Adrien chuckled in the back of his hand. “Sorry, Plagg, but this is my daughter. Her wish is my command.”

“Well, better get me out of here or  _your_ wish to become Chat Noir won't be my command ever again!” Plagg wiggled and managed to free himself, flying as far away as possible. Emma started to cry again.

Adrien brushed his hair back. He had a second chance to prove himself to be a good parent after that previous disaster at Nino's place. An idea struck him. “Wait a second.” He lifted a finger. “She liked you.”

“Whatever you’re thinking about right now, I strongly disagree.” - “I’ll give you twice as much cheese.” -  “Still no.”

“Plagg, claws out!” The green light of Adrien’s transformation faded and he gently lifted Emma out of her bed, brushing a claw softly over her cheek. She stared up at him with big green eyes. Chat sighed. “What am I supposed to do with you, Emmy?”

She opened her mouth with a quiet sound, almost laughing. Adrien knew that he wore his heart on his sleeves but still was surprised to feel his eyes go wet. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for this beautiful sight.

A clock went off somewhere in the distance and Chat froze. He had to be on patrol in less than ten minutes. Normally he would have told Ladybug to do a solo patrol but Marinette had asked him to watch Emma and he kind of forgot it. Besides that, they should go out as much as possible since everyone was still waiting for Hawk Moth’s comeback.

Chat tried to lay his daughter back into the bed but she had his bell in her grip and didn’t let go for anything in the world. “Dang, your mother wasn’t joking when she said that you were strong,” he said, failing to lose Emma’s fingers. “Emma, I can’t take you with me… on… patrol… wait.”

There was a box in the corner of the room labeled ‘Chloé Party’. His childhood friend was obsessed with going out to events and he’d been her plus one to multiple of them. There was a particular one when they were eight. A masquerade ball.

“Emelia Adele Agreste, do you want to go for a little walk?”

 

* * *

 

“Until tomorrow!” Marinette said and waved to Amanda, a nice young woman she met during her entrance examination. They both had been the last ones to leave the campus and now Marinette was just tired.

“You did very well,” Tikki whispered from her purse. “I am sure that the judges will love your presentation.”

“I don’t know, Tikki. I could have been better.” Every candidate got a random topic to which they had to design an outfit. They also had to choose fabric samples that would fit with the design. The time was limited to this day only and the presentation would be in the morning where every candidate had to explain their thoughts and progress.

The kwami flew up. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. Your choices were good.”

“Yeah, good. But good is not good enough for ESMOD. And Amanda had such a lovely sketch too.” Mari sighed. “Are you ready for patrol? I really need to get my head clear.” They stopped behind a building.

“Just say the words!”

“Tikki, spots on!” Ladybug leaped up into the air seconds later and sprinted over the rooftops. She felt like she was finally getting back into shape, especially after losing the leftover weight from the pregnancy.

The night wasn’t special. There were tourists in the usual spots, taking pictures of the city at night. Sounds came from the streets below and the Eiffel Tower sparkled in the distance. She just reached the meeting spot, ready to greet her already waiting partner as said partner turned around and smiled sheepishly.

There was a freaking baby on his chest.

Ladybug stopped and stared for some seconds. The most confusing part of the whole situation was the little black mask and the fake cat ears.

“Chat,” Ladybug said, “why do you have a baby with you?”

He lifted his arms. “I can explain!”

“Yeah, you better.”

“Okay, listen.” The cat superhero stemmed his hands on his hips. “My friend had a really important appointment today and asked me to watch over the child. I wanted to tell you beforehand, I promise, but I just forgot.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose, nodding slowly. “Fine.” Her nodding became faster. “Okay, fine. I can deal with that.”

“Good.” Chat said. Ladybug walked around him to get a better look at her partner. He had managed to safely tie the kid to him with something she wasn’t able to identify. The little girl was sleeping, not revealing her eye colour but she looked oddly familiar to Ladybug. But there was something blocking her mind and it was frustrating her to not be able to know where she knew that face from.

“Can I ask what’s the name of your little sidekick?” she asked, now stopping her observation.

“ _Ladybug_!” Chat whispered in fake shock, “Even superheroes in the making need a secret identity!”

She snorted. “So what’s her alter ego then?”

He seemed to think for some second, finger tapping against his chin. “Kitten Noir.”

“Kitten Noir, seriously?” Ladybug asked with a raised eyebrow, folding her arms in front of her chest. “What would her mother say if she knew that you just promoted her kid to your little right hand?”

“Don’t worry, my Lady. No other woman is able to take your _spot_ as my partner. Not even this little angel here.” He winked but for some reason, it didn’t seem sincere. Chat hadn’t honestly flirted with her in a while.

Ladybug smiled gently. “You like your friend a lot, don’t you?” she assumed, noticing the blush on her partner’s cheeks. “I mean, you watch over her baby, taking care of it even though it’s not your responsibility.”

He settled down gently, careful not to wake the child and smiled softly. “Yeah.” She sat down next to him, waiting for Chat to continue. He breathed out slowly, not looking away from the lights of the city. “She’s amazing, LB. She is… incredibly talented and nice and cares for everyone. She is my best friend and since we spent so much time together lately, I might have come to the realization that I like her much more than I thought.” Chat shrugged his shoulders.

Ladybug hummed softly, nodding in understanding. “So… you are in love with her?”

Her partner groaned and pressed his hands to his eyes. “I mean… I guess? Maybe? It’s hard to tell if it’s love yet but there are some strong emotions I feel towards her. And the problem is that I don’t know how to tell her or ask her on a date because I’ve been friend zoning her a _lot_.”

She lifted a hand to her mouth and laughed gently. Chat gave her a sharp look and she reached out to touch his shoulder gently. “No wait, I wasn’t really laughing at you.” Ladybug apologized. “Actually, I am in a quite similar situation.”

He looked up. “Really?”

“Yes.” She chuckled again. “There is this boy and I have been in love with him for several years now. Ever since the first day I’ve met him, to be honest. And now… now we have this beautiful child together but aren’t in a relationship yet. It’s a complicated story, really, but it doesn’t matter because we became so much closer in the past months. The only thing left is to confess.”

Chat had folded his hands around the small girl’s waist. “I’ll do it if you do it too.” he then said, making Ladybug blush.

“I can’t just confess to him, Kitty!” she answered and shoved his arms gently, making him sway to the side just a bit.

“Well then just ask him out… like very subtle.”

“What I have been trying to do for the past seven months since our baby was born? Yeah, no.”

He smiled at her and shrugged, then turned his head back to the view. “I can’t believe it’s been seven months and even more since the last akuma attack. I wonder what Hawk Moth is up to.” Chat changed the subject.

Ladybug shrugged. “Good question. Maybe he retired?”

“Nah, I don’t think so.” He shook his head and sighed. “I should go. Kitten Noir shouldn’t be out for too long.”

“Good idea.” They both stood up and smiled again at each other, then grabbed their weapons and made their way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's official: There are four chapters left, plus an epilogue!  
> While prewriting I noticed that there will be a lot complicated headcanon magic related stuff in the end chapters. It might be a bit confusing so if you ever have any questions, go ahead and ask! I'll try to answer them as good as possible!  
> Thank you all again for the feedback and kudos, Hooked Up reached 10.000 hits too! Thank you so much!


	16. Chapter 16

It took Alya eighteen months to finish the yearbook, find a good company who would print it and send out a link to every class member, informing them about the finished work. And now Marinette sliced the side of the package open with a sharp knife.

Eighteen months was a long time.

Emma made some sounds, sitting in her highchair and eating a cut apple. Marinette crunched her face together cutely, leaning her head forward to bump her nose with Emmy’s. The nine months old chuckled.

“I love you so much.” Mari smiled and then opened the package. The yearbook was very well done. The front cover was the very last picture they ever took as a class. She remembered how they lined up on the stairs in front of their school, wearing their pretty dresses and suits from the graduation ceremony.

“Look, my angel,” Marinette said and lifted the book high enough to show her daughter the cover, “Back then you were just a weird little something in Maman’s belly.” Emma made another noise that sounded like ‘dah’.

Tikki, who sat on the kitchen counter next to the open package, chuckled. “It is nice to see that you actually call yourself a mother now.”

“It’s still new to me.” the young woman nodded to herself, “But I guess it’ll become even more realistic when  _ she  _ starts to call me 'Maman'.”

“You’ll like it, I am sure.” Tikki nodded and Marinette hummed in agreement as she opened the yearbook and immediately smiled at the work her best friend had put into it.

As the class president, Marinette had to give a speech during the graduation ceremony. And while she was good at giving speeches, she wasn’t really skilled in thinking them through while writing them down. Luckily, Rose helped her with the process. Their written speech was plastered over the first side of the yearbook.

Then the pictures started. It started with their very first day at college and Marinette smiled at the sight of her very young classmates. They all looked so chubby and childish in comparison to today. But they also looked… kind of split.

She never had close friends back then. Of course, there were Nino and Kim, two guys she literally spent all of her childhood days with but as they grew up, they parted their ways.

Kim soon started to hang out with Alix and Max. Then there were Sabrina and Chloé, the well-known duo. Rose, Juleka and Myléne were close too while Nino, Ivan and Nathaniel had this awkward friendship where they hung out occasionally.

Many people entered and left their class over the years, just like Lila and Kagami but no addition had been as drastic as Alya and Adrien.

The day they entered Francois-Dupont was the same one Hawk Moth appeared, Marinette received her Miraculous and had the great chance to meet not only a dorky partner, a best friend but also, on top of all, the boy of her dreams.

She smiled down at the first class photo and remembered how everyone tried to make Juleka feel nice and special. At least the appearance of a butterfly supervillain helped their class to come together as a team. One for all and all for one.

Marinette turned some more pages and then froze in her track. ‘ _ Last party as a class’ _ was written on top of the page and she blushed extremely hard.

“Tikki!” Mari groaned in distress, “They added the pictures of that night.” The kwami flew up to get a better look at the book and then laughed.

“Look at the bright side, Marinette, without that night you wouldn’t have Emma now.”

“I know…” She pushed some hair out of her eyes and shot another look over to the baby which still chewed on her apple. “But that does not make the thing any less embarrassing.”

Luckily, Alya hadn’t add the intimate dancing pics of her and Adrien like she wanted to. Instead, she choose their group selfie. Alya smiled brightly at the camera, winking with one eye as she held the top part of her purple dress. Nino was behind her and held up a peace sign, wearing his headphones around his neck while squeezing his eyes shut.

And then there were Adrien and herself. She smiled just a bit, her own eyes focused on some random spot above the camera as her cheeks were a dark shade of pink. Marinette couldn’t remember holding a beer bottle but the picture proofed something else. She looked… happy. And so did Adrien as he pressed their heads and bodies together, a toothy grin on his face.

That was eighteen months ago. And if Marinette had the chance to jump into that picture and change her future? Maybe she would. 

The door flew open.

“Guess who is back in Paris!” Alya exclaimed, jumping into the living area with her arms spread wide. “I am!”

“Alya!” Marinette almost fell from the barstool as she hurried to hug her best friend. “Oh my gosh, I missed you so much! How was Sweden? Did you have a good time?”

“Besides not being able to understand much? It was great!” They squealed and laughed in excitement.

“Sit down, tell me everything.” the dark haired one said and pointed to the kitchen table. “We haven’t seen each other in almost three months!”

Alya snorted as she pulled out souvenirs from her bag. “We chatted and called almost daily and Stockholm is still in the same time zone, silly.” The two friends settled down. “But the uni there was so great, I’ve got so many pics to show you. Seriously, if you get the chance to study abroad, do it.”

“I would but… Emma, you know?” Mari sighed, propping her head on her hand. The two girls looked over to the baby and Alya used the chance to pull the little girl on her lap.

The redhead cooed at Emma. “Naw look how much you grew up while I was gone. And aunty Alya here saw that sweet video of you crawling all over the place too. I bet your maman and papa are so proud of you.”

“Ah-da.” was the only answer coming from the baby.

“Yes you are a little cutie, aren’t you? Little cutie pie.” Alya’s voice went higher and higher with every word, making her best friend snort.

“Sweden made you become even worse at babytalk than Adrien.”

“Hey!” a perfectly manicured fingernail pointed at Marinette, “I didn’t get to see my godchild in flesh for the past months, I am allowed to do crazy babytalk.”

“Whatever you say.” Mari shrugged. “Talking about Adrien…”

“Uh, what about him?”

“I… I don’t know. He has been acting weird lately. Like, normally, he just hung around because he wanted to see Emma. What I can understand and I’ve never judged him for doing it! But lately, he wants to randomly spend time together. He asked me if I’d like to watch a movie with him or sometimes he stays over even after Emma fell asleep to just play video games.” Marinette’s phone pinged and she picked it up, unlocking it in a swift motion and then frowned. She turned the screen to Alya. “See?”

 

> >>My father is planning a fashion show for the end of the year and since you didn’t go to fashion week after all, I wanted to ask you, if you’d like to go there?<<
> 
> >>I am sure we can take Em with us too?<<

 

Alya raised her eyebrows and wiggled them. “Looks like he is asking you out on dates.”

“What!?” Mari shrieked, fiddling her hands in front of her face until her fingers started to play with her hair. “There is no  _ way _ , Alya! We are talking about Adrien!”

Her friend snickered. “He is so asking you out on dates. And Nino has been oddly suspicious too. Maybe the two of them are keeping secrets.”

“Okay, but what if it’s really just Nino keeping a secret? Maybe he is the one trying to get you on dates.” Marinette said and took her phone back before her friend could type a reply.

“No.,” she said with a dark look crossing her face, then Alya smiled brightly again. “I see you received the yearbook, wanna look through it together?”

 

* * *

 

“All I am saying is that they should kick Nancy out, she isn’t that pretty.” Chloé said, painting her toenails blue.

“I don’t know, she walks well enough.”

Chloé looked at her phone camera slowly. “We didn’t reunionited after one year of not talking to start fighting about America's Next Top Model, Agreste.”

Adrien stretched his leg carefully to not throw the laptop off his lap. “It was your idea to watch the episode with me.”

“Yeah, because Nath is sleeping and I have no one else to complain about with.” she snarled and moved to her other feet.

“I could give you Marinette’s number? I am sure she would agree with you on multiple levels,” he said and then started to fidget with his glasses. “Wait, is that a tattoo on your ankle?”

“Huh?” Chloé stopped her motion to look at the questioned place where a little golden crown was tattooed into the skin. “Oh, yeah! Nath design it, isn’t it pretty?”

“Wow.” Adrien breathed. “A tattoo, huh? Pretty permanent, huh?”

“A baby, huh? Pretty damn permanent, huh?” Both blondes looked into their cameras at the same time, Chloé smirked.

“C’mon, I get it.” he complained in annoyance, “I am not asking you to love my child but could you respect her at least?”

“Don’t worry, it’s just a joke, Adrikins.” Chloé rolled her eyes and continued to paint her nails. “Just because you are head over heels for Dupain-Cheng doesn’t mean that I am going to stop saying my opinion on that matter.”

Adrien blushed and grabbed the second pillow from his bed to press it on his face. It was a mistake to trust Chloé with that secret, he knew it.

“I should get back to studying, Math equations won’t do themselves.” he hurried to make up an excuse, which wasn’t completely untrue. He had to do school stuff after all.

“Fine, see you soon.”

“Later.” They ended the video call and Adrien sighed deeply. Plagg was almost not visible in the darkness of the room except for his glowing green eyes. The cat lay on his dresser in an old empty cheese box. “Plagg?” Adrien called into the darkness, dragging out the a longer than necessary.

“Kid?” the kwami mocked him in a similar tone.

“I don’t wanna do Math.” Adrien sat up and ruffled his hair. “I know Ladybug is doing a solo patrol tonight but…”

“You want to join her, I know.” Plagg groaned. “I hope you have some extra leftover cheese?”

“Honestly, I can’t believe that I storage your stinky camembert in my bedroom of all places.” the blonde said and opened the lowest drawer of his bedside table. “Here, hurry up.”

He watched the cat kwami flying over to him, hugging the cheese tightly. “My sweet camembert. You are so lovely tonight.”

“You are so cheesy, Plagg.” Normally, Plagg almost inhales his favourite food but right now he took his time, one bite after the other. Adrien leaned back down on his back and stared at the ceiling for some silent minutes.

“Kid?” Plagg’s voice echoed through the room.

“Plagg?” his chosen answered.

“You know, I should have told you about this a while ago but since it never came up, I just forgot.” started the kwami, flowing up again. “It’s about your kitten.”

Adrien’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Emma? What about her?”

Plagg took a deep breath. “Listen. There is this thing called energy, okay? Every human has one and the type of energy in you decides for which miraculous you’re made. I know, pretty complicated, so I won’t get into detail.” Adrien blinked but his kwami just continued. “So, normally, energies don’t care about biology. Two butterfly energies can easily have a bee energy child. Now, fun fact: yours and Ladybug’s energy don’t exactly work like that since your energies are stronger connected to the miraculous.”

“Means what?” the boy asked confused.

“Means that your energies are more likely to influence the next generation than others. Means that your kid is really likely to have your energy, just like fifty percent stronger so that it could actively influence her civilian traits. Understood?”

“No?”

“Good. I won’t repeat myself. Let’s go on patrol!”

 

* * *

 

Chat was a bit off of his game that night. He tried to wrap his mind around what Plagg had said but while it did make sense in one way, it simply didn’t in another. Maybe the kwami really just scratched the surface of the topic because it felt like there was something important missing.

Ladybug was just about to swing from the building, arm already outstretched as Chat called her name. “Did you confess yet?” he asked, making his partner froze.

“Uh… no. I didn’t.” she answered honestly and pulled her yo-yo back in.

“Crap.” Chat breathed. “And here I thought you could give me some tips on how to do it.”

She snorted and shook her head. “Sorry, Chaton. I am as helpless as you are.”

“Urg.” he groaned. “I just don’t know what to do, you know? Should I make a big thing out of it, like buying her many red roses and tell her how much I like her in a grand gesture or should I do it when it’s just the two of us? There are just so many possibilities.” He sat down on the edge of the rooftop and Ladybug joined him.

“I don’t really care about the gesture around it too much. Really, the worst thing is the actual confession.”

“Are you sure? Because it always looks so easy in romcoms and anime.” Chat looked over at his partner as she frowned.

“Believe me.” Ladybug said, “If confessing was as easy as TV shows make it seem, I would have done it years ago. But every time I tried, I became really nervous and stuttered all over the place.” A shudder ran through her body. “Yeah, it was embarrassing.”

“You? Stuttering?” he raised his head to the sky.

Ladybug nodded and then leaned her own head on his shoulder. “I am a real klutz in my civilian life. No grace at all.” She rolled her eyes at her partner’s quiet chuckle. “No, that wasn’t a joke. You would one hundred percent agree with me if you knew my identity.”

Silent filled the space between the two superheros as they looked over their city. Chat closed his eyes in content, taking a deep and long breath. He had thought pretty long about what he was about to say. Long nights, lying awake in the darkness made him think alot about the future.

“When I confess, I want to reveal my identity too.” Ladybug stilled at that statement, then gently lifted her head from his shoulder again. “I..I mean not at the exact same moment. I want to make sure that the relationship actually works before telling her but… because a child is such a huge responsibility, you know? I want my partner to know what they have to deal with.”

The spotted superhero nodded in understanding but she continued to not say anything.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attention: Long Chapter ahead ^^  
> There are a lot of things happening in this one and I am not completely one hundred percent happy with it... might try to write on it again after finishing the story...  
> now enjoy the chapter :))

“I can’t believe it’s been a year since Christine had her own baby,” Marinette whispered while letting her hair down. She shook her head to lose it up. “Her little boy is adorable. And it looks like Emma is already friends with Thommy.” They just arrived at the bakery from the little birthday party Christine had invited them to.

Adrien laughed lightly, sitting on the chaise in Marinette’s room. He held his daughter’s hands in his own, steadying her attempt to stand. Her hair was in pigtails again and it made the young father smile softly as they bopped up and down. “Give her a few more weeks and she’ll walk.”

“Maman said the same thing. She grows up so fast.” Marinette faked a whine. “Ten months old, I can’t even.” Emma turned over and touched her mother’s knee, letting go of Adrien’s hold. She stood for another few seconds before falling backwards on her butt. Then the little girl crawled off to her toy box.

Adrien leaned back on his hands. “Father assumes that Christine was the one to spill the beans… about me being a father, you know?”

“Even if she did, we aren’t able to change it and I don’t want to lose a friendship over assumptions.” Marinette stated in a stern voice, “I actually thought that you didn’t care about what the media says, so I don’t know why you are bothered.”

“I am not bothered.” Adrien pinched his glasses up before continuing. “Emma is my little girl, might the world think what they want. My only problem is that I don’t want anyone else to reveal stuff about my life without me having control over it. I’m sick of people making my choices.”

All Marinette did was to nod and Adrien huffed frustrated. He was frustrated with many things lately. University was okay but exams were coming up soon, filling both his and Mari’s schedules since she was currently going through her first semester. Then there were his duties as Gabriel Agreste’s son too and all in all, things were starting to pile up.

His friend sighed as she stood up, looking through a closet to find some warm clothes for Emma. “I am planning to go out with Emmy later, you want to join?”

He looked at the window, snow falling slowly. “Isn’t a bit cold to go out?”

“Well… the cold doesn’t bother us anyway.”

Adrien blinked and then laughed into the back of his hand. “I can’t believe you actually quoted Frozen.”

“Hey!” Marinette protested, stemmed one of her hands into her crooked hip with a smirk. “Alya made me watch that movie more times than I liked and just yesterday she bought that Elsa themed hat for the kiddo.”

Adrien cringed at the sight of the hat and groaned loudly, making Marinette snort.

 

* * *

 

She was beautiful. It wasn’t a new realization, he always thought she was pretty and cute but the yellow light of the street lights and the sparkling fresh snow made her stand out even more.

Marinette’s cheeks were a sweet rosy hue in the cold, matching her scarf and knitted hat. He remembered her wearing the same light brown coat when they visited the first preparation course.

Adrien walked next to Marinette who was pushing the carriage, visibly shaking from the weather. He strongly had to hold back the urge to wrap his arms around her.

“Hey.” He nudged her shoulder with his gently, nodding to a small hot chocolate shop. “Do you want some?”

Marinette snapped out of some kind of trance, turned her head towards the shop and then nodded. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

“Wait here?” He asked and she nodded again, stopping their walk along the Seine. Adrien jogged over to the store, lining up at the end of the queue. His hands were buried in his pocket to stay warm. He looked back over his shoulder to see Marinette sitting on the small brick wall of the canal, rubbing her hands together.

She was just so… radiant.

“Monsieur?” Adrien jumped at the voice of the old man who was waiting for his order and the blonde told him what he wanted. His cheeks were a deep red as he hid them in his soft blue scarf while trying to avoid looking at Marinette again. With a thanking smile, he took the cups and made his way back to the two girls.

“Here we go!” Adrien called, making Marinette snap her sight from Emma to him and she grinned while taking one hot chocolate.

“Thank you, this is going to be my lifesaver.” she joked and took a sip. A pleasant hum escaped her lips. “Dang, not as good as my mother’s recipe but super close.”

“A Dupain-Cheng approval? Must be really good then.” Adrien raised an eyebrow, taking a sip himself just to be completely blown away by the sweet and hot drink. It was really good!

They both continued to sit on the wall for another some minutes, just randomly talking about things like school or their friends. It was amazing how, even though they spend so much time together, they always seemed to come up with new topics to talk about. And Adrien couldn’t believe that they once stumbled around each other, not really being close friends since Marinette had seemed to be so nervous around him. If they could have seen their future selves.

Marinette wasn’t drinking as fast as Adrien, wanting to cherish as much of the warmth the hot chocolate provided as possible. But it was getting late, Emma should be getting into a real bed soon and that’s why he offered to push the carriage while his friend continued her sipping.

His hands were gripping the handle tightly as his thoughts were starting to mock him, telling him that it was the perfect time for him to spill his feelings. It was getting ridiculous. Adrien stopped as Mari threw her empty cup into a nearby bin. As she turned back to him, their eyes met and blue bored into green for several seconds.

“Mari…” he started, looking for the right words to say, “I… I am so grateful to have you… both of you.” He nodded down to Emma and then focused on his hands. “It took me so long to realize how much you really mean to me. Friendships have never been too dominant in my life and maybe that’s why I couldn’t see the difference between my relationship with you and my other friends.”

She pinched his side with her elbow. “There is a difference?” she asked, laughing gently.

“Well, y-yeah! I don’t have children with my other friends!” Adrien protested and Marinette snorted, hiding her laughter behind her hands.

“That’s true. I mean, I hope it is.” The look the blonde shot at his friend made her turn away with even stronger giggles. “Sorry! That was a joke.”

Adrien huffed and a small cloud formed in front of his face because of the cool air. “To come back to my point which I was trying to make.” Marinette took a deep breath herself, still smiling brightly from the laughter. “I think I know now why I couldn’t stop myself from kissing you back in April last year.”

“Wha-What?” Marinette stopped and brushed some of her hair out of the way, looking just a bit lost after his statement. “You think you know... what’s the answer?”

“Uhm…” A deep blush started to form on Adrien’s cheeks and it was now or never. “Maybe, because of the fact that I never had the opportunity to hang out with people my age...I… didn’t know what it felt like to be attracted to someone. And that night was my chance to let all those unconscious feelings out. Marinette, I like you. I liked you probably far longer than just last year’s April. But I am terribly sorry for not realizing it sooner.”

He looked up to see his petite friend frozen in place, staring at him with her big blue eyes and parted lips.

“Too forward?” he asked and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Marinette lifted her hands to make weird movements with them in the air. “No! No, it wasn’t! I just… wasn’t expecting you to say this!” she hurried to explain. “What doesn’t mean that I am not fluttered because I do like you too!” She stopped her wild fidging and pressed her hands on her mouth.

It made Adrien blinked and then smiled shyly. “You do?”

“Ye-yeah! I just had th-this huge cru-crush on you ever since meeting you, haha, kill me.” Marinette faked a laugh, her face getting more and more red with every second passing. “That was too much information.”

“No!” Adrien smiled, letting go of the carriage to grab her shoulders. “No, I am so glad that you told me! Because you like me back, don’t you?”

“Uh, yes?” Mari furrowed her brows but nodded. “Yes, I do like you back.”

A happy feeling started to bubble up in his stomach, making him shake in excitement as he hugged her, lifting her off the ground and pressing his face into her neck. A new giggle escaped her lips and Marinette wrapped her arms around his shoulder. They were probably looking like some fools, giggling and shaking in each other’s arms while the snow kept falling from the sky.

Adrien placed Marinette back down on the ground and leaned back from their hugging but still held her arms. They both grinned from one ear to the other.

“I like you,” Adrien whispered.

“I like you too,” Marinette replied.

“Gosh, I like you so much.” The blonde pressed their foreheads together and cupped her cheek with his right hand, twisting a lost strand of her hair between thumb and pointer finger. “This was probably the world’s silliest confession ever.”

“This was a confession?” Mari mused, bumping their noses together. Their breaths warmed their faces as she tried to come even closer to him, their toes touching.

Adrien bumped her nose back and hummed softly. “Are you alright with this?” He looked down between them.

“With what?”

“Hey,” he whispered offended. “I am the oblivious one in this relationship.”

She huffed in amusement, tightening her grip on his neck as she leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly. Adrien closed his eyes and tried to follow her lead in this. It was nothing like their first kiss, not harsh and fast but careful and slow. He would have kissed her so much earlier if he’d knew how good it would feel.

Marinette pressed closer to him, making him lean back to support her weight just to bump into something with his hip.

Adrien opened his eyes, pushing the woman in his arms away as he turned around to get a hold of the moving baby carriage. He almost completely leaned on the handle as a long breath escaped his lips.

Behind him, Marinette started to giggle. “Father of the year.”

“Hey! I am trying!” he defended himself, rolling his shoulders back and checked on Emma. She blinked at her father with her bright eyes, safe and sound. “Let’s get her home, it’s getting late.”

Marinette hummed in agreement, gently grabbing his upper arm and leaning her head on his shoulder as they made their way to his flat.

 

* * *

 

She never felt this happy before. Okay, maybe she did right after her baby was born, but this came oddly close.

It almost felt like a routine for Adrien and Marinette to make a quick dinner, feeding Emma and bringing her to bed. They put on a movie and curled up on the sofa. She combed with her fingers through his soft blonde hair while his head lay on her stomach, watching the TV.

Marinette felt giddy, content and just so at ease. She scrunched her brows together as her fingers hit an uneven spot right behind Adrien’s left ear. Leaning closer, her eyes adjusted to the dim light and made out a light brown mark which had been covered by the endless strands of gold.

“What is this?” she asked, tapping against the spot again.

Adrien shifted underneath her. “A birthmark, I guess.”

“From your mother or father?”

“Neither actually.” He shrugged lightly. “I never noticed any birthmarks on my father. My mother had one, but it was on her lower back.”

Marinette nodded and took a closer look at the weirdly shaped piece of skin. It looked like a tear but in the middle of its rounder side was a clear spot. The form looked familiar. She stopped as the dialogue of the movie filler her ears and she looked up just in time to see a witch, holding a yin and yang themed necklace up to free the protagonist of the evil spell.

The birthmark looked like a yin.

“Maybe you got it from one of your grandparents then?” she asked, starting to brush through the hair again to not focus too much on her discovery.

“Maye.” Adrien agreed, turning his position to face her as the credits rolled on the screen. “Emma doesn’t have any birthmarks… do you?”

“Nope.” Marinette denied and smiled, pointing one of her fingers at her face. “I just have freckles.”

Smirking Adrien pushed himself up and crawled on top of her. “It’s not fair, they are barely visible in winter.” She giggled and turned her face from his, making bump her cheek with his nose. “Maybe if I get close enough I’ll catch a sight of them.”

“Adrien!” Mari whined way too amused. She kept her cheeks hidden in the cushion of the sofa for some more seconds, then turned her head and caught his lips ín a sneaky kiss. “You see them now?”

“Sorry but I think I need another try.” His smirk was playful and she rolled her eyes, cupping his cheeks and pulling him to her again.

The kiss started out slow and soft and he brought his hands up to brush her hair away, then let them sink to her waist. Marinette hooked her legs behind his, pulling his hair softly. In that moment, Adrien decided to leave her lips and traced his mouth from her cheek to her jaw and then to her exposed and open neck, tugging on her sweater.

It was a weird feeling, but a good one too, finally getting a grip on her dream boy without them being under a drug’s influence. Said dream boy bit her skin not too harsh but strong enough to make her gasp. Marinette'S hands tangled in his shirt, ready to pull it up-

A cry echoed through the room, making the hot mess of teenagers freeze. Adrien slowly leaned back, face red and hair messy as he waited. The cry rung a second time and they both tried to make out where it came from.

It was Emma.

Marinette coughed in crook of her arm, trying to get her pulse normal again. She felt hot while untangling herself from Adrien. “I’ll… just... check on her… for a second. She probably just woke up and needs to see a familiar face.”

“No.” Adrien pressed the dark haired girl back into the cushions. “Stay, I’ll check on Emma.”

She didn’t get to protest as the man stood, nodding awkwardly at her and then hurried to his second bedroom. Marinette used that time to slump her shoulder, taking deep breaths. They shouldn’t jump head first in again. It wouldn’t do any good but still, she couldn’t help herself.

“This is a stupid idea, Marinette, shame on you,” she whispered to herself while pushing her sweater up and tossing it on the spare stool next to the sofa. Then she pulled her jeans down, letting it fall to the floor. A deja vu like feeling started to bubble up in Marinette’s stomach. She was just about to open her bra as a door closed. Footsteps came closer.

“Just like you said, she just needed a familiar face and- What are you doing?” Adrien stood behind the sofa, blinking down at his half-naked friend who started to get red.

Mari played with her hair in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, it was a stupid move but I just thought that maybe we…” She tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible. “Forget it, that was dumb.”

“Wait.” The blonde blinked, “You thought we...?”

“If you don’t want to that’s fine too.”

“No, I’d like to, really… just lemme get... uh... stuff.” And then he was out of the room again and Marinette didn’t know if it was a good or bad sign yet.

 

* * *

 

She awoke to the sound of a car horn and people chatting. Marinette pressed her nose back into the fluffy pillow, wrapping the soft warm sheets closer around her. It had been months since the last time she woke up like this.

Marinette blinked her eyes open slowly, seeing an alarm clock on a bedside table. Eight-thirty in the morning. She huffed. Even without Emma’s help, she woke up before nine.

Rubbing her face, she sat up and brushed some sweaty bangs away. To actually think about it, she never saw Adrien’s bedroom before. Of course, he showed her around after moving in, but it seemed like he changed a lot in this time. There were pictures. So many pictures, all around the flat. It just felt so much more like a home than the mansion.

She smiled down at a collage of ultrasound pictures on another side table, then stretched with a loud yawn.

“Marinette.” a voice called, making the girl squish her eyes in confusion. “Marinette! Down here!”

She leaned over the bedside and came eye to eye with her kwami. “Good morning, Tikki.”

The red bug giggled. “I am glad to see that you had a nice night but your parents texted you. It only stopped shortly after midnight.”

“They did?” Marinette asked and lifted the bag off the floor, pulling her phone out. The screen remained dead. “My battery died. I should have told them about staying at Adrien’s, they are probably worried.”

“Maybe you should have.” Tikki nodded. “He is already out in the living room, by the way.”

Marinette hummed but decided to rest just a bit longer inside the bed, keeping her warm from the cold air outside since she only wore a big light blue shirt. After some minutes, she decided to finally get up and paddled towards the door.

Almost synchronous to herself, the opposite door opened too, revealing Adrien with a soft smile which, at her sight, turned a bit sheepish.

“Good morning, Mari.” the blonde said and rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope you slept well. Emma has been awake for a bit now but I didn’t want to interrupt your sleep.”

She blushed, rubbing her arm. “Thank you. It was really nice to actually not wake up because of the needy kid.” They shared a small smile.

“Uh… m-my fridge is kind of empty since I didn’t expect any visitors but there is this waffle house I’ve been dying to check out ever since moving here so if you’re interested… it’s just down the block.”

“I’d love to,” Marinette whispered and then noticed her half-dressed state, as well as his missing shirt. “Let me get ready first? I’ll be right back?”

“Sure, take your time.”

That she did. After the last night, Marinette needed a long shower. She slipped into her jeans from the day before and was actually glad to have listened to her mother’s advice to carry a second shirt with her (having a baby required such a measure sometimes).

They sat inside the waffle house not even half an hour later. Adrien had ordered a big chocolate one and a coffee while Marinette stuck to one with strawberries and a hot chocolate. The snow from yesterday was already gone again, leaving Paris’ streets wet.

Marinette was just about to start eating as she noticed Emma grabbing a spare knife from her highchair at the end of the table. “Oh no, Emelia. That’s nothing for little children like you.” She squealed in protest as her mother pulled the knife out of her hands and put every cutlery as far away as possible.

“Hey, Emma, wanna try this?” Adrien tried to distract her and offered his daughter a piece of his waffle. She blinked at it for a second, looked like she was about to cry after another and then lost her attention to a TV in a corner of the room.

Both parents sighed in unison.

“It’s your fault she’s been so obsessed with TV lately,” Marinette muttered while lifting her cup to her lips.

“I’m sorry.” Adrien said, “I’ve been spoiling her, haven’t I?”

“Yeah, I think she shouldn’t be part of your and Nino’s gaming night’s again either.”

Adrien whined. “Alya told you?”

Marinette hummed and actually started to take a bite of her food, moaning in pleasure at the taste. Adrien chuckled at her expression.

They continued to eat, chatting softly about random topics. After finishing, Marinette cleaned herself with a tissue and cleared her throat.

“About… about last night...uh… Sorry for being kind of stupid and getting naked… again. It would be less shameful if it hadn’t been the second time already.” she mumbled, trying to avoid eye contact.

“It’s fine,” Adrien assured her and leaned over the table to hold one of her hands. “I’ve been actually meaning to talk with you about-” A scream tore through the air and nearly everyone in the waffle house turned their heads to the windows, seeing people running along the street. “What is going on?”

The door swung open and a man crashed into a waiter, his eyes widened in panic. “AKUMA!” he yelled and pointed around himself. “The news! Akuma!”

Another waiter behind the counter had already switched the TV program from the music to the news channel. Nadja Chamack stood in her usual studio, eyes intensely looking at the camera.

“After more than one year, Hawk Moth has returned and is threatening Paris again. Many people thought that the villain had been defeated, even though our local superhero team never admitted to such an assumption. There is no sight of them yet, so please stay in your houses until the situation has been taken care of. Our team is currently live streaming the attack for updates.” The scene switched to a helicopter camera.

A young woman flew around in a skin-tight suit which was divided into a mint green and a light pink side, wearing a similar mask. Her blonde hair had been braided over her right shoulder as she aimed a lilac gun at a man.

“I am Mademoiselle Bubblegum! You are always asking for my gum, now you shall get it!” She pulled the trigger, shooting a green orb at a man. It hit his foot and started to bubble, spreading over his body and making it impossible for the victim to move in the sticky mess.

Adrien felt a poke on his leg and looked down to see Plagg. He needed to get out and transform.

“I’ll… uh… I think I didn’t really take the strawberries well.” Marinette stuttered and hurried to stand up, almost knocking the drinks over. “The restroom, uh… I mean I’ll be in the restroom!”

“Marinette, wait!” he called, hand outstretched but she was already on her way.

Plagg poked him again. “Kid, you need to get going.”

The blonde looked from his kwami to his daughter who was quite confused by the whole situation and the panic in the room.

“What am I supposed to do, Plagg?” he hissed down, “I can’t just leave Emma here alone…” He looked around. “Wait I’ve got an idea.” Adrien stood up, pulling his overshirt off and lifting Emma up in his arms. She tightly held onto him. “Okay, we’ve done this before, trust me my little darling.”

Adrien pushed through the door of the restaurant despite people's warnings and found himself in a mass of gum-trapped people. He looked around, then decided to hurry into a side alley next to the building.

“I don’t think your plan is good,” Plagg commented as he watched his holder secure the child on his chest with the overshirt. “And Ladybug wouldn’t like it either.”

“I just need to get her safely to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and then we can focus on that Akuma. Plagg, claws out!” Chat Noir turned around, ready to sprint off as a door to his left opened and the surprise made him stumble, losing the hold on his child and he was just about to cry out, as red hands saved Emma.

Chat held his knees while taking deep breaths. “Ladybug, thank you so much.” As he looked up he saw the superheroine frozen in place, focusing her full attention on the child.

There was panic in her eyes as she looked up. “Chat Noir, why did you have m- a baby with you?” He stemmed his hands into his hips and stretched his back. “Please answer me, Kitty.”

“Her father gave her to me.” he lied. “He got hit by the Akuma and was able to tell me to bring his child to the Dupain-Cheng's.”

“I’ll do it.” Ladybug stated and tightened her grip on the little girl.

Chat held her back. “No, my Lady, listen! I know that you must be very protective of her because you are a mother yourself but let me get her to the safe place, please.” She still didn’t look convinced and he slumped his shoulders. “Ladybug, please. You need to check the Akuma and find its object. You are the one of us who is good at making plans and the sooner you are able to figure out how to purify the akuma, the sooner she’ll be safe. Now, give me Emma please.”

“No, you don’t understand…” she whispered and pressed her eyes together. Chat didn’t know what she meant but was surprised as his partner pressed the kid in his arms anyway, “Bring her to the bakery, fast. I will personally come after you if you’ll take longer than thirty minutes!”

“I promise to be back before that.” Chat winked and secured Emma again. She held a little hand out to Ladybug as the spotted superhero swinged up. Then tears started to leak down her cheeks. “We need to go, hold tight, Emmy.”

And then he extended his staff with one hand. The run across the rooftops was terribly long. Emma cried, she cried a lot and Chat felt sick just hearing her sobs.

He landed on the ground and pushed through the door in only seconds, scaring some customers and Sabine behind the counter.

“Chat Noir! What are you… Emma!” the older woman exclaimed and hurried to the cat man, taking the child from his arms and rocking back and forth to calm her. “Where are her parents? Why do you have her?”

“They got caught up in an akuma attack. And her… her father told me to bring her here. I hope it’s okay.”

“Of course it is! Do we need to worry about getting into the attack too?” Sabine looked around and nodded to her husband who peaked from the kitchen.

“It is far away enough to not raise any risks for you. Anyway, you should close the shop and stay safe, Ladybug and I will take care of the situation.” Chat said, slowly retreating from his child as his heart continued to break with every new sob.

“We trust you.” Sabine nodded and Chat did the same before sprinting out of the door again.

 

* * *

 

They were definitely off their usual game. Ladybug had to use her Lucky Charm as they both were trapped in a pink gum bubble, a needle was enough to free them. Chat then used cataclysm on a billboard, trapping Mademoiselle Bubblegum and Ladybug whipped the gun out of her hand, freeing the black butterfly only seconds later.

Usually, the whole fight would have taken much less time but eighteen months of no training or fight wasn’t a preparation for Hawk Moth’s comeback.

“No more sitting patrols.” Ladybug breathed heavily, “I think I might need to start visiting a fitness studio.”

“Take me with you.” Chat agreed while holding his burning side. “By the way, sorry for not showing up to patrol yesterday, I had a date.”

“Uh… to be honest, I wasn’t out either… my friend? boyfriend… whatever we are right now doesn’t matter but he confessed.”

“Oh. Congratulation then!” Chat smiled at his partner and she returned it shily. A warning beep rung. “I need to go, see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.”

They parted their ways and Chat hurried back to the same alley as before, dropping his transformation and catching Plagg before rubbing his bare arm. It was still cold in Paris.-

 

-

 

The waffle house, on the other hand, was still warm as Marinette stepped inside through the back door, running towards a table and sighting in relief at the sight of Adrien doing the same.

“Mari!” he called and she stopped in her track, As soon as he stood in front of her, he cupped her cheeks and pressed kisses over her forehead. “I am so glad you are fine.”

Marinette lifted her hands and tugged at his wrists. “I am sorry for running away… I should have… Emma. We need to get her.”

“She’s at your house, she is fine, Mari. I promise it. Let's go to her?”

“Yes, please.” Nodding, Adrien stepped back to collect his things as well as Emma’s carriage and he left some money on the table before the couple left the shop.

Marinette was anxiously fiddling the whole time and even dropped her house keys while trying to unlock the door, causing Adrien to take them from her and doing it himself. She shot him a short smile, then run up the stairs without thinking twice.

She kicked the door open, making her father shriek from the kitchen area. The next person Marinette saw was her mother who sat on the living room sofa and then there was Alya. She waved from the floor and leaned a bit to the side to reveal a perfectly fine Emelia.

The young mother let out a sob and hurried across the room, kneeling down and scooping her daughter up into her arms. “I am so glad you are safe, Emmy. Maman was so worried.” A hand softly touched her shoulder and the next thing she felt was Adrien’s head on her shoulder as he brushed through both girls hair.

“We were worried too,” Sabine said as the pile of Adrien and Marinette untangled themselves. “As Chat Noir brought Emma here and told us you got caught up in an akuma attack, we immediately closed the bakery and hoped you’d come soon. Alya arrived only recently.”

“I wanted to show you the footage of the fight, but you weren’t here yet.” the redhead smirked while lifting her phone.

Marinette brushed some wetness from her eyes, still strongly holding onto her child. “I totally forgot to tell you that I was staying over at Adrien’s place for the night and my phone died.” 

Tom nodded in understanding and put some cups of tea down. “What matters is that you guys are alright. Do you want to take some leftover pastries to your place later, son? It’s our way to say thank you for watching over little girl.” Marinette huffed in protest as Alya chuckled.

Adrien just blinked and then blushed. “I actually need to leave in some minutes, sir. I don’t think our professor called the lesson off.”

“You need to go to uni?” Marinette asked and Adrien nodded. He let out a deep breath, then quickly leaned forward to press a kiss to Mari’s cheek and did the same thing to his daughter.

After some tea and snacks to calm down, he left and Alya followed her best friend up to her bedroom to change Emma’s diapers. Alya let herself fall on the chaise.

“So…” she started with a bemused tone. “What was that cheek kiss all about?”

Marinette froze, blushed and then continued to peel her daughter out of her clothes. “We uh… are kind of a thing… now?”

“That doesn’t sound sure though.” Alya raised an eyebrow.

“Well, we didn’t really talk about what we are now but he- no, we confessed to each other yesterday and… I might have slept with him again.” Marinette let go of the baby to press her palms against her reddening face. “It’s so ridiculous.”

“Wait, wait wait. You slept with Adrien?” Mari hummend and Alya tried to hide a snicker. “You want me to go to the pharmacies and get you one of those magic pills to avoid what happened the last time?”

“Alya!”

“C’mon, I love Emma, but we don’t need you to become pregnant again.”

“Shut up, weactuallyusedprotectionthistime.”

Alya laughed and Marinette kept on burning alive while Emma joined her aunt with a little giggle.


	18. Chapter 18

“I think I want to ask Mari to move in with me,” Adrien said, making Nino stumble and almost spit his coke on the street.

“Dude!” he called as they stopped in front of a red light.

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. “You don’t think it’s a good idea?”

“Eh… okay, listen.” The dark skinned boy turned to his friend and lay a hand on his shoulder. “I know that you are currently on a pink-heart-shaped-glasses kind of trip but you guys have only been together for two weeks.”

“I honestly don’t see the problem.” Adrien shrugged and continued to walk as the street light turned green. Nino groaned and tried to keep up with the blonde’s pace. “Wouldn’t it be better if we move in together? It won’t be good for Emma in the long run if we’re switching places back and forth.”

“I get that but on the other hand you just don’t know Nette as much as I do, bro.” Adrien raised his eyebrow at that statement. “Mari and I are childhood friends. I know like almost all of her quirks and flaws. Like the fact that she snores and drools in her sleep and can get super aggressive if you try to wake her before nine in the morning. That doesn’t count for her responsibilities as a mother, that’s her job. But sleeping in means for you to be up by eight and that’s one hundred percent a thing you guys are going to disagree about.”

“So what do you suggest?”

Nino rubbed at his stubbled chin where a short beard had started to grow. “I’d say you wait a bit more. Go on dates, get to know each other closer. Of course, you have been friends for the past five years but might I remind you that you really just started to spend so much time together because of your baby? And what if you move in too soon and actually get into a fight? It wouldn’t be good for Emma either.”

“Since when did you become so wise?” Adrien asked and tightened the grip on his bag as he dodged a group of tourists.

“I don’t know, dude, it’s a gift!” They shared a quick look. “Hey, did you know Marinette used to do ballet? She stopped when she was eight, don’t know why.”

Adrien huffed. “Yeah, just throw random Marinette facts at me.”

They stopped in their track as a bright blue light shot into the sky. It was some streets away and disappeared as soon as it appeared but many people had seen it too. “What the hell was this?” A random man asked. Only seconds later multiple phones went off at the same time.

“Akuma attack,” Nino said while looking down at his display. “Dude, I’ve been so excited for our lunch.”

Adrien hummed in agreement, already trying to figure out a good place to transform. Akumas had become rather regularly in the past weeks. There had hardly been a day without a new attack.

“Hey, I’m gonna try to get a bus home, you coming too?” Nino bumped Adrien’s shoulder, pointing to a bus stop not far away from them.

“No… wait. Isn’t Alya’s favourite shop in that direction?” The blonde asked, nodding to where the blue light had been only a few moments ago. “Marinette went out to buy Christmas presents for everyone and maybe she’s still there.”

“Oh no, do you want me to try to call her?”

Finally ripping his eyes from the sky, Adrien shook his head and took some steps away from Nino. “Go home, stay safe. I’ll look for her, maybe she’s already on her way to the bakery again.” Nino didn’t seem alright with that decision but nodded anyway before hurrying off.

Adrien then slipped into a cinema, the Akuma alarm making everyone leave and he had the chance to quickly transform. He used the fire escape to get to the roof and moved from there over the rooftops. After only crossing some streets Chat already saw Ladybug lurking behind a half wall, peeking over it.

“Good day, my Lady.” he greeted and sat next to her, also trying to catch a glimpse of the situation. A small plaza, surrounded by restaurants and small shops, could be seen and, in the middle of it, a big metal cage. A chubby man was inside, tightly grabbing a controller. “So, what’s going on?”

“I was here when the man got akumatized,” she said. “Apparently he bought a console for his nephew for Christmas and while testing it the cables short circulated and gave him an electroshock. The shop owner didn’t want to take the broken console back though because it was on a sale, I don’t even know. Anyway, the Akuma is in the controller and the console transformed into this cage. I am not exactly sure what his powers are yet but it looks like he can’t move the cage.”

Chat nodded. The man hit a bottom on his weapon and a blue light shot from a nearby street lamp straight to the cage, making it glow and electrified. Then he did the same with another street lamp, this time the blue energy seemed to connect the two object rather than draining or loading them.

“A Faraday cage.” Chat mumbled, pressing his lips together.

Ladybug frowned. “What?”

“It’s a Faraday cage. You know, the object inside of such a cage can’t be affected by electricity-”

“I know what a Faraday cage is! My boyfriend studies Physics and I swear if I hear that word one more time, I’m going to hit something.” Ladybug growled and turned to Chat, who smirked.

“Is that so?” he asked, winking, “What would you say if I tell you that I am also studying Physics? Who knows, maybe your boyfriend and I are even going to the same uni? Maybe even to the same course?”

“Two of you dorks in one room?” she joked and flicked his bell, “That would only bring disaster. Especially when you do experiments.”

“Nah, you’re mixing things up, Bugaboo, the big explosions usually happen in Chemistry.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose, using her left pointer finger to push his chest further away from her and Chat chuckled. “Less talking. Better use your knowledge to come up with a way to get Electrifizer out of his _Faraday cage_.” 

“Sure.” Chat stood, wrapped his arm around Ladybug’s waist and then extended his baton to lower them from the roof. As soon as they stood on the ground, Ladybug started to spin her yo-yo.

The Akuma smiled. “See there, see there. The bug and the cat. Give me your miraculous and I might spare you the feeling of electricity going through your bodies.”

“Oh yeah, that would be a real _shock_.” Chat rolled his eyes. Electrifizer didn’t seem too happy about that statement. He angrily hit a new bottom, making a short blue light beam shoot from the cage in the superhero’s direction. They jumped apart, using their weapons to protect themselves. 

Ladybug helped some civilians to get out of one of the shops and Chat stepped to the side right before the electricity could hit him. Instead, it shot straight into an abandoned phone, making it light up with a full battery symbol. Curious Chat looked down at it, then ran over to Ladybug and threw them both behind a wooden table.

“Wood,” he said and knocked against the surface, “No good electric conductivity.”

“Of course. Well, you got a plan, nerd?” She asked and looked around herself.

“I do, actually.” Chat nodded, “He isn’t able to randomly shoot electricity at us. He needs a source to connect his cage with. Currently, there are too many technical devices around here, we need to turn them off.”

She tapped her fingers against her lips in a thinking gesture, then threw her yo-yo into the air while calling for her Lucky Charm. A bucket fell into her hands. “A bucket? Seriously?”

They looked at each other, then around the table to get a better view of the plaza. There wasn’t much, mostly buildings. At least for one thing. “My Lady, the fountain.” Chat whispered, hiding behind the table again.

“Yeah, what about it?” She asked, definitely keeping her eyes on the empty fountain.

“What happens when you shower while blow drying your hair?” he tried to help her.

She furrowed her brows and after some seconds her eyes went wide in realization. “You get electrified! We just have to destroy his connection by dumping water on the items! But it’s winter and the fountain is off, how are we going to do it?”

“I can use cataclysm on it. It’s still pretty warm so the water shouldn’t be frozen yet.”

“Good. I’ll distract him and try to destroy smaller technical devices, some tourists often drop their cameras or smartphones around Akumas.” They nodded at each other. Ladybug then sprinted out of their hiding spot, throwing her yo-yo around and cracking sounds could be heard.

Chat, on the other hand, grabbed the bucket and did a similar thing as his partner. He made a beeline for the fountain, almost getting hit by a blue beam. He called for his cataclysm and turned the fountain into black smoke. Soon after, the water started to sprinkle. The bucket filled and Chat then run over to a street lamp.

 

-

 

“You can’t win!” Electrifizer called as his connections started to fade away. His cage lost more and more energy with every beam he shot at the superheroes. Ladybug smirked as she used Chat’s distractions to get closer to the Akuma, her earrings beeping for the first time.

She was only a few steps away from the cage and reached out to catch the handle of a door as Electrifizer shot a new beam. She narrowed her eyes, moving almost in slow motion and keeping her gaze focused on the door. Ladybug didn’t see the danger coming her way but Chat did and the next thing she knew was that her body got slammed down.

“What just…” Ladybug breathed and looked up. Her arms were heavy but she managed to stem them up straight anyway. The energy hadn’t hit her. It was her partner who lay on the ground instead, unmoving. “Chat!” the spotted superhero screamed and she crawled forward until she could touch his head. Slapping her hands against his cheeks, he started to groan and Ladybug closed her eyes in relief.

“My Lady…” he whispered and she brushed his golden hair aside. ”Lady…” Chat’s head rolled to the side as he drifted off into unconsciousness.

“Chat? Chat! You stupid cat, how am I supposed to fight this without you?” She looked up and saw Electrifizer already intensely staring at them. He wouldn’t attack them, his cage didn’t have enough electricity anymore. A lilac butterfly mask appeared over his face.

Ladybug suddenly had the urge to bring her partner to a safer place and she shifted his body into her arms and swung on top of a building. She crouched down and brushed through her partner’s hair again, trying to see if he got hurt anywhere. Instead, she made another discovery.

A yin shaped birthmark right behind the left ear, usually covered by the blonde hair.

She dropped his head into her lap with a gasp. In the past few weeks, she had come quite familiar with a similar symbol while giving her boyfriend head massages.

So, either Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste were long lost brothers, passionate Physics nerds and anime soulmates or…

She didn’t want to think about it right now, for the sake of her sanity and the waiting Akuma.

“Kitty, please wake up soon.” Ladybug whispered, then stood to get back to the fight. Electrifizer had left his cage, was therefore easy to confront now but his controller was now able to find other sources. At least he couldn’t save the electricity in his cage anymore.

She used her yo-yo as a shield, getting closer and closer to the villain. “It’s time to stop this!” Ladybug said, getting more and more angry with every second. Her partner, possible _boyfriend_ , father of her only _child_  lay unconscious on a rooftop because of this man. As she was close enough, she finally got the chance to kick the controller out of Electrifizer's hand. They both watched as it flew into the air and landed some feet away.

“Ladybug!” someone called and the superhero looked up to see Alya come out from behind a building, her broken phone in a hand. She didn’t waste any time, starting to sprint towards the object in the same moment Electrifizer did.

“Break it!” Ladybug exclaimed, twirling her yo-yo and shooting it at the villain, trapping him as a risky beep came from her earings. “Fast please!”

Alya stepped on the controller, breaking it and a black butterfly escaped. She waved at the spotted hero with a big smile. Ladybug threw her lucky charm in the air, reversing any damage before capturing the Akuma. She barely had any time left as she swung back on the building, dropping next to her partner just in time for her transformation to fade.

Tikki settled on top of Chat’s body and Marinette crawled over to check on him. He was still unconscious but his breathing seemed normal. She sighed in relief, gently leaning down to touch her forehead against his.

“Chaton?” she asked and bumped his nose with hers. “Are you awake, minou?”

His expression changed and she could feel his eyebrows moving. “Mari…?”

“I am here, it’s okay. We made it. Let’s go home, you need some tea and a warm bed.”

 

* * *

 

The reveal didn’t go like expected for either of them. Adrien was confused to wake up in his bed, Ladybug’s and his kwami sitting on a dresser and seconds later Marinette had stumbled in with two cups of tea and a cold towel for his aching head.

It was an awkward situation, neither of them wanted to address the topic as time ticked by. Only after several minutes of silently sipping drinks, Adrien cleared his throat.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked softly and hid his face behind his legs.

Mari lowered the cup on top of the dresser and rubbed her arms. She sat on the spare stool Adrien had moved from the living to his bedroom after buying some kind of rocking chair for Emma. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed. “For still jumping in front of Akumas to protect me and bringing our _daughter_ in danger by taking her on _patrol_ with you? Yes, I am furious.”

He visible curled into himself in embarrassment. “I am sorry…”

She smiled softly and crawled on the bed, gently taking his hands in her. “I’m not mad at you for being my partner, Chat. I could never be mad at you for being him.”

“Really?” He sounded a bit hurt and furrowed his brows.

“Hey, of course not.” Marinette squeezed his hands, “You are a wonderful person, both as Adrien and as Chat. And… and I think I am honestly in love with you because how could I not? You are Emma’s father-”

“Wait.” Adrien interrupted her, lifting one finger up and critically looking Marinette up and down. “You didn’t even recognize your own child.”

“I… what?”

“Patrol? When I had Emma with me? You didn’t recognize her with fake cat ears and mask.” he explained.

Marinette frowned, then let go of him to fold her arms and blushed deeply. “Well, it was the miraculous magic and not my fault.” She tried to sound defensive, holding her frustrated pose for another few seconds then slumped her shoulders. “Fine. We’re both parents with flaws.”

"Hm." Adrien hummed. He leaned back against his bed. "What gave me away?"

"Your birthmark did," Marinette said, lifting her hand to tap against a spot behind her left ear, trying to bring her point across.

"Well..." he chuckled gently while rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah… To be honest, I was planning to reveal myself for some days so luckily we got over this now. But knowing that you are Ladybug makes things more complicated for Emelia. We definitely should tell somebody else. If something ever happens to us…”

“You’re right.” Marinette sighed but then froze. “Wait, you’re Chat Noir.”

“Yes, I thought we were over this topic already.” He said, raising an eyebrow.

Mari pulled on her hair, slowly freaking out. “No, no, no, no, no. You are Chat!” -  she pointed at him - “And I am Ladybug.” - she pointed at herself- “Tikki!”

The red kwami flew up and nuzzled her chosen’s cheek. “Breath. Breath, Marinette. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“But what about Emma? She’s our child, she could… she could be…”

“Urg, are we talking about this again?” Plagg complained as he flew up and circled the humans.

“It’s important, Plagg!” Tikki complained. “They deserve to know the possibilities that come with being a miraculous holder.”

“Hold on!” Adrien interrupted the two little gods, lifting his hands. “What are you talking about?”

“Emma!” Marinette and Tikki said together and Plagg groaned loudly.

The black cat kwami flew into Adrien’s lap and rolled himself into a ball of black fur. “It’s about the energy stuff I told you about, kid. No worry.”

Marinette didn’t seem like she wouldn’t worry. Her face was blank as she fiddled with her hands in the air. “Our kid could be having both of our powers!”

“She what!?”

“Stop!” Tikki exclaimed, flying up between the two humans as she called for silence. Everyone was watching her. “Panicking won’t get us anywhere. I suggest you calm down, pick up Emma from daycare and visit master Fu. I am not surprised that Plagg told you barely anything so I’ll explain it a bit more and our guardian takes over further things from there on.”

 

* * *

 

 

Wayzz flew out of his hiding place as soon as the last customer left the shop. Fu started to put the mattress away and prepared his usual afternoon ritual.

“I feel the Ladybug and Black Cat nearby, master.” The kwami commented and Fu smiled.

“Seems like we are going to have some visitors?” Fu nodded and so did Wayzz. Seconds later, someone knocked. “Come in.”

Marinette gently pushed the door open, biting her lip as the old man smiled warmly. She turned around and then stepped inside, followed by Adrien. Fu looked back and forth between the two young adults, waiting for them to feel comfortable enough to speak up.

“Uhm, I know that we shouldn’t come here unless it’s an emergency but… it kind of is?” Marinette said and rubbed her arms. “I hope we don’t interrupt anything, master Fu.”

He stood and approached them with a kind expression, only then seeing the little baby safely tucked into her portable carriage. Fu didn’t comment on that, instead, he lead them to the middle of the room.

“If you are both here I am sure the situation is worrisome enough.” Fu stated, “So, what can I do for you?”

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other, also sitting down across from Fu. They were not sure who should start and in the end, Mari decided to do it. “Do you remember when I came to you last year because I had to go on a hiatus?” The old man nodded patiently. “Well… it was because I was pregnant with… with Emma.” She pointed to the carriage and Emma blinked by the mentioning of her name and lifted her little hand.

“I see,” Fu said and brushed through his beard.

“It was an accident between Adrien and me but… I just recently found out about him being Chat Noir. And Tikki commented on possible powers our child could inherit from us. We just hoped you could help us more.”

As soon as she had finished, the kwamis shot out of their hiding spots, greeting each other with happy dances in the air. The master had closed his eyes, thinking deeply.

“She isn’t wrong, children. It is possible for your baby to receive your energies since they are strongly bonded with the miraculous. Wayzz should be able to feel them, the turtle miraculous contains the power of being able to sense other people’s energies. That is how I was able to find you.” Wayzz flew up next to his master, bowing his big head in respect and then settled down on the mattress between them. Adrien gently pulled Emma out of her carriage and lay her next to him. “I need to use a little spell, it’s very hard to sense little human’s energies.”

“Is it dangerous?” Adrien asked, grabbing Marinette’s hand to comfort her.

Fu chuckled. “No. I use it regularly to calm customers. Here are just too many distractions for her.” He lifted his hands over Emma, mumbling a quick spell and after just a few seconds the child started to yawn and blinked even slower than before. Wayzz flew over her as soon as Emma was asleep and started to glow like Tikki used before telling Marinette about the possible powers.

Silence filled the room before Marinette spoke up. “Tikki mentioned another Ladybug and Chat Noir child and how he fought his… his own parents. Do you know more about this?” There was a bit of hope in her voice as she squeezed her boyfriend’s hand lightly.

“It’s an old story which has been kept a strict secret ever since I can remember. It happened long before my time but one of my masters told it once even though he could have risked his life by doing so.” He leaned back, preparing his thoughts. After taking a deep breath, he started.

“The miraculous grow and learn with you. Centuries ago it wasn’t completely necessary to actively transform the holder, their clothes often just switched texture and colour. The previous pair of Ladybug and Chat Noir lived in a small village, quite far away from bigger cities. They inherited the miraculous stones from their families, being the first in the generations to actually be able to use them. They fell in love, lived together and finally had a son named Johwa. Back then the idea of energies coming together wasn’t dangerous to anyone, not even the kwamis since they couldn’t know the possibilities back then.”

Tikki and Plagg nodded.

“But Johwa didn’t quite develope like normal humans in his environment did. His energy was way stronger because of the ultimate power that comes from connecting creation,” - he pointed at Marinette, then Adrien,- “and destruction. The ultimate power is a state of infinite harmony and balance, making it possible for the one archiving it to switch between time and space almost like a god, almost like a kwami would be able to if they weren’t chained to the miraculous.”

“So…” Marinette started, frowned and looked from her partner to the guardian, “Johwa was some kind of immortal being?”

“I’m not sure. Almost every evidence of his existence burned down with the miraculous temple and the fact that a child of balance only happened once makes it even harder to say. What I do know is that he grew up between his parents and, apparently, several other miraculous holders. The usage of Lucky Charm and Cataclysm was a part of his daily life. So when he started to gain similar powers, no one assumed it was a bad thing.”

“I remember my previous holder to be very happy about teaching him.” said Tikki, “They loved him so much and I couldn’t bring myself to stop their interactions.” Mari shot the little red bug a sympathetic smile.

Fu continued. “With age Johwa trained his powers, learning how to balance them to not disturb the force of harmony. But the destruction side of his power tended to overweight sometimes. It’s said that he was quite mischievous and used magic to get his will.”

“Yeah, I quite liked him.” Plagg mentioned with a smirk, “At least until…”

A heavy atmosphere filled the room as the old man brushed through his beard, his expression hardening. “One day strangers arrived in the village. They burned the guardian alive because of his ‘witchcraft’. The other miraculous holders had to flee. Except for Johwa, whose anger became stronger and stronger with every day of them hiding in the woods. At one point, he decided to go back to the village to seek revenge.”

“What happened?” asked Adrien, leaning closer to Mari for support.

“He was blind, his range outweighing the balance as he used destruction for inhuman causes. His parents, as the holders of the miraculous, knew it was their duty to stop this disaster. There isn’t much information about the fight itself even though it was the only time all seven main miraculous had been activated. The involved never talked about this day and the secrets died with them.”  Fu explained and frowned. “I know this isn’t a helpful answer to what could happen to your child. We don’t have much experience on that matter and the times have changed.”

“It was more than we expected, thanks,” Marinette said, nodding in respect but then looked at Emma, still softly sleeping while Wayzz glowed. “Tikki mentioned they banned him from this world… what could that mean?”

“She did?” the old man locked eyes with the kwami and hummed in concentration. “The state of balance I told you about could be the reason. By using the ultimate power they could have banned him to another universe. Interesting theory, I assumed Johwa was dead.”

Panic looks were exchanged between the young parents, ready to ask if this was a bad thing as Wayzz stopped glowing and fell on the mat in exhaustion. Fu leaned to his side to take off some leaves from a small tree, feeding the kwami with them. After some seconds, Wayzz flew up again. “I felt both energies deep inside but it’s hard to say how strong they are, master. She is still too young.”

“To be expected.” By the desperate looks on Marinette and Adrien’s faces, the master continued. “We have to wait. Only time can tell how the energies will develop, if and what powers she would gain.”

Gently Marinette picked up her daughter, cradling her Emma to her chest. She took a deep breath while trying to wrap her mind around all the information this conversation had provided. Adrien brushed his hair back while blowing air out of his lungs.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea to get your kitten in contact with the miraculous.” All eyes snapped to Plagg. Wayzz nodded in agreement.

“But it’s already hard to hide our identities from our family and friends!” Mari complained, “How are we supposed to hide them from our child?”

“I know it could be complicated but Plagg has a point.” nodded Tikki. “We know that Johwa learned about his powers by his own parents… maybe we can avoid this with Emma by simply not giving her access to the secrets.”

Fu closed his eyes in concentration. “It is a good idea. In the end, you have to decide how much you want your child to know about the miraculous. I will be here if you need help, so will be Tikki and Plagg. Now go home, think about everything before making a decision.”

The teenager nodded and said their goodbyes, the kwamis hiding in their coats as they left. Wayzz looked at his master with thoughtful eyes. “Do you think it would be good to..."

“Yes.” Fu nodded, “Help me pack, there is an old friend we have to visit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long chapter, many headcanon stuff... ask if you have any questions!
> 
> About Adrien's birthmark: "Together the black and white teardrops represent the interaction of the energies found in all things." (a quote I found on this website https://feng-shui.lovetoknow.com/Ying_Yang_Meaning) He and Mari both have yin and yang related birthmarks but since Marinette's would be the white one, it would be harder to see on her light skin. The marks represent the holder's bond to the miraculous.
> 
> About Johwa's name: I didn't plan to make it a Korean name, actually I imagined the family to live on an African or even a South American country. But while looking for fitting names in different languages I noticed that they often sound female rather than male but the gender is important for the future of the story. If you want to know the meaning behind it, copy this 조화 into Google and let it translate into English :)
> 
> Maybe the reveal wasn't as big as expected but I actually planned it to be quite calm... they aren't fourteen anymore and there have been multiple clues to their identities already.
> 
> Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, see you soon! :)


	19. Chapter 19

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Marinette whispered, looking up at the big gate with her blue eyes as Adrien squeezed her hand.

He sighed. “You won’t be able to find a sitter in two hours, this is the only way. And it’s not like my father never raised a child before.”

Mari crocked her eyebrows. “Did he really?” Adrien blushed in light shame.

It was only a matter of time until they needed a babysitter and even though Emma was close to being a whole-year-old, they still couldn’t just leave her without supervision. And it just happened that both Adrien and Marinette had an important exam on the same day and needed a good night rest.

Normally, Sabine and Tom were the first persons to offer to look after their grandchild but a big order would keep them up for the whole night in the bakery. Alya was out of the city again for a new research project and Nino couldn’t take an eleven-month-old to the club for his job. They even asked Chloé and Nathaniel but everyone had anything else to do.

Gabriel Agreste was the last person related to the family they were able to ask and to Adrien’s surprise, his father actually had time. Marinette, on the other hand, had mixed feeling about this.

“I don’t want him to leave Emma with Nathalie the whole evening. The poor woman has enough to do and Gabriel should rather be the one watching her,” she complained, making her boyfriend slump his shoulders, then he leaned down to pick the baby carriage up and hit the bell. “One comment about him having to do something else than looking after his grandchild and I’ll personally take Emmy home again.”

“It’ll be alright, Bugaboo, calm down.” The gates opened and the two entered. Marinette had become protective of her daughter since they visited Fu. It was a natural reaction, he himself wanted to make sure Emma was safe during Akuma attacks, especially because of her possible powers. But they needed to learn to treat her like every other normal parent would treat their child.

The entrance hall was quiet and empty. Not much had changed since Adrien moved out of the mansion. Gorilla came from a hallway, nodding at them to make them follow. He looked down at the carriage, just lifting the corners of his mouth a tiny bit by the sight of curious green baby eyes.

Nathalie was the next person to cross their path to Gabriel’s office. She nodded as a greeting. “Hello Adrien, Marinette.” She stopped, pushing her glasses back. “Your father is already waiting.”

“Does he really have time?” Adrien asked at Marinette’s frown. “Or are you on babysitting duty?”

“Me?” Nathalie raised an eyebrow, lips twitching in amusement, “Oh no, today is my once in a month free evening off. No way I am missing out on that.” She turned, the clicking of her heels the only sound in the house.

Marinette leaned closer to Adrien. “Should we be worried that Nathalie won’t be here to step up in critical situations?”

“Yeah… most likely.” They stopped in front of a small door and Gorilla knocked before opening it. Adrien connected this door with quite some bad memories. It belonged to his father’s second office, the one for all the important company papers. It was also the room where he has been told about the disappearance of his mother.

Entering the room they were met with the smell of coffee and Gabriel himself, sitting behind his desk while holding contracts and other important papers. The tall man looked up to see the teens. “You are on time, I see,” he said.

“Yeah…” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you for offering to watch over Emma, we appreciate it a lot.”

“No problem.” Gabriel nodded as he took a sip from his cup, looking back and forth between Marinette and Adrien, waiting for them to continue.

The dark-haired girl then stepped forward. “I made a list.” she said and held a pink note to Gabriel, “These are our phone numbers. Adrien and I probably go to bed around nine tonight but if you have any questions or if there are problems you can try to contact the bakery, my parents should be in the kitchen pretty much the whole night. Emma shouldn’t eat too many fruits before going to bed, we noticed her getting some cramps. She usually sleeps from eight to six, sometimes less or more. There should be enough toys and diapers in the bag.” - she put said bag on the floor - “Emma pretty much entertains herself, please just look out for her. Um… daycare opens at seven, call us if we should pick her up from there or here.” Marinette tapped her fingers against her cheek, going through her thoughts again.

Adrien stepped in by putting his daughter and the carriage down on the floor, laying both hands on his girlfriend’s shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, father. Thank you again, it means a lot to us.” His hands squeezed Marinette’s shoulders lightly in comfort.

The door opened again and Nathalie appeared, laying a pile of papers on the desk. Gabriel frowned but then turned his attention back to the young parents. “You should leave and prepare for your exams tomorrow,” he said.

Marinette and Adrien shared one last glance at each other, then the blonde leaned down to unwrap Emma from her carriage, lifting her up in his arms and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. He whispered his goodbye to his child, then gave her to Marinette who did a similar thing.

The two left, leaving Gabriel and Nathalie to themselves as Gorilla walked off. “So…” the man said while watching his grandchild. Gabriel was never too involved in his son’s new family even though Adrien liked to keep him updated with pictures and videos. It’s been months since the fashion designer saw Emma in person. “Why don’t you watch over Emelia while I finish the work here?”

Nathalie raised her eyebrows up high. “You know that it is time for my free evening? I should be leaving.” The look Gabriel gave his assistant was more than pleading but the woman just smirked. “Have a good night with your grandchild, monsieur, I’ll be back in the morning.”  


* * *

 

Barely an hour later, Gabriel was at the end of his nerves. Emelia Adele Agreste didn’t look like it but she truly had a lively personality. At one point, she had found a good hold on a drawer, pulling herself up to stand and sending important fabric samples flying all across the room in the process.

He couldn’t remember Adrien being like this. His wife had made a habit of bringing the small toddler to his office whenever she had an appointment to attend. Adrien then sat on the floor, playing with toys like cars and the only worry Gabriel had was for him to walk in front of furniture or spill a drink.

Emma, on the other hand, was unstoppable. Her toys started to become boring and then the little girl became curious. Gabriel could stand up, put her in the middle of the room and only five minutes later she would be grabbing for the stapler on a table.

He blamed the Dupain-Cheng’s side of Emma for this.

Gabriel sighed as a small hand smacked down on the glass part of his desk, probably leaving terrible stains on the surface. He turned to look down at the small green-eyed girl and she stared back. He had to admit, she was adorable. And there definitely was no use in continuing his work as long as Emma was still on the run.

“I can’t believe you are the child of my son,” Gabriel said and lifted Emma off the floor and on top of his lap. She immediately reached for a yellow highlighter but Gabriel rolled backwards in his chair, making it impossible to reach. He really couldn't believe it since Emma was so much different in personality than Adrien when he was in her age. Still, it was undeniable that Adrien was the father of this child and while Gabriel thought he had come to terms with that fact, he really hadn’t. His almost twenty-year-old son was a father.

Emma lifted her hand again but when she realized she couldn’t reach the desk anymore, she started to tug on Gabriel’s tie and the man growled. His grandchild tried it again, this time Gabriel rolled his eyes, setting her on the floor again and then she started to full on cry.

The way of making people guilty to get what you want was such an Agreste-move from Emelia that Gabriel couldn’t even be mad.

He pinched his glasses back and then decided to leave the work be. Leaning down, he picked the girl up and then walked with her to his son’s old bedroom, at least there was a seating area. The room hadn’t changed much, Adrien left most of his things at the mansion since they would be too big for his flat.

They sat down on the big sofa. Gabriel looked through the bag Marinette left with Emma and found some changing clothes as well as a grass green pajama. He scrunched his nose at the sight and made a mental note to design something more stylish.

The next thing he found was a handmade Chat Noir doll. It looked quite like the one Puppeteer used to control the real superhero. As soon as Gabriel had pulled the plushy out, Emma started to grab it, her crying and sobbing dying down.

“You shouldn’t play with the enemy, Emelia,” spoke Gabriel and shook his head as he, instead, offered her a stress ball from a nearby table to the child and was about to put the doll back as she literally threw the ball on the floor. It bounced, flew off and Gabriel just awaited a crashing sound from somewhere but it never came.

The man frowned and turned to where he assumed would lay the small orange sphere but his eyes widened by the sight of black crumbs. It didn’t look burned, the texture was way too thin. His head whipped around to Emma as she managed to get a small toy car between her fingers and Gabriel saw with his own eyes as the object changed its colour to black, then started to crumble apart to smoke. Before she could continue her destruction, Gabriel pressed the Chat Noir doll into the girl’s hand, stopping her.

 

* * *

 

“Be honest with me, Nooroo, do you know if my son is Chat Noir.”

The lilac kwami looked down on the floor with a shy expression, not wanting to come eye to eye with his wielder. “I can’t be sure, master. My senses aren’t good enough to feel other miraculous.”

Gabriel looked up from his tablet screen, the miraculous book opened on it. There was nothing that could confirm his theory but he had this feeling. He pulled up an old photoshoot of Adrien, comparing his ring a second time with the one on the page. They were similar, except for the colour difference between silver and black but every miraculous changed during transformation.

The last time he suspected Adrien of being the black cat superhero ended with him jumping from a building, untransformed and definitely proving to not be Chat Noir. But… what if it had been a trick? What if Adrien stayed untransformed on purpose to not reveal his identity.

It still didn’t explain why Emma, apparently, was able to use cataclysm.

“Is there a way for humans to use miraculous magic without using a miraculous?” demanded Gabriel to know.

Nooroo frowned. “There are humans who are able to wield magic but our powers can only be archived with the miraculous stones. But… Ladybugs and Chat Noirs can influence their children just not as much as giving them the powers… except…”

“Except for what?” the man pressed further.

“Except for when they are combined in a child.” The kwami looked over at the small crib that once had been Adrien’s. The Gorilla somehow managed to find it in an abandoned room after Gabriel remembered he didn’t have a place for his granddaughter to sleep.

“But that would mean Emelia’s mother has to be Ladybug,” Gabriel stated. At first, the thought sounded ridiculous. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a small and shy girl, as Ladybug? But then he switched the tabs on his screen to open the first baby pictures of Emma, one of them showing the young woman too. Her hair was loose, falling in waves along her cheeks. It couldn’t hide the light-reflecting earrings.

Ladybug had dark hair, which she wore in pigtails. Ladybug had been a mere teenager the first time they fought.

Ladybug had been gone for several months. Ladybug appeared some days after Emma’s birth.

Ladybug had been in front of his eyes the whole time. Chat Noir had been probably been _living_ with him.

Gabriel stood, walked from his bed to the crib and looked down at the sleeping child. Her long brown hair was spread upon the sheets and her mouth opened slightly. The Chat Noir doll was still tightly trapped in her grip.

It could just be a coincidence. But the question was what if it wasn’t? It would mean that he fought against his son ever since the boy was fourteen.

Normally, that wasn’t a primary problem for Gabriel. His plans were set and he knew that any damage didn’t matter as long as he would get the miraculous stones. With them, he could turn back time to the point where the Agreste’s family life fell apart and he could make things right again.

Everything now didn’t matter. But, while this was Gabriel’s way to deal with his wife’s loss, it wasn’t how Adrien felt. The young man had learned to move on. Of course, Adrien missed his mother deeply but it didn’t stop him from looking towards the future. And now Adrien had a child himself and Gabriel knew how happy it made him.

For the first time in five years, Gabriel asked himself if all of it was worth it, turning the time back to save his wife. Eventually, Adrien would be happy too, someday. He would find someone to love, to have children with but… those wouldn’t be Emelia for sure.

Gabriel rubbed his forehead, then went back to bed. His first mission would be to see if the child had any Ladybug powers too, then he would have to do a lot of thinking.  


* * *

 

Hawk Moth watched as his newest Akuma fought against the local superheroes, shooting flowers at them. He had to admit, it wasn't one of his strongest villains but he just needed an excuse for his tests. He turned around to watch Emma in the back of the room, sitting on the floor while her eyes were intensely fixed on the white butterflies around her. It was a truly sweet sight.

The man lifted his cane. "Flowerpot, if you continue to waste my time I have to take your powers away from you," he remarked and could barely hear her answer as she rushed forward in rage. Yet, Hawk Moth knew that she wasn't strong enough the keep Ladybug and Chat Noir busy for much longer.

He just needed to wait for the right time, his fingers gently rubbing his cane in patients. 

Ladybug used her Lucky Charm, revealing a red and black pair of scissors. She frowned down at them and then scanned her surroundings. This was the moment he had waited for.

"Your time is over Flowerpot. Another Akuma shall take over." The villain protested, curled into herself on the street as Hawk Moth cupped his cane whispering some quick words before the woman lost connection to the butterfly man. Her butterfly appeared under Hawk Moth's fingers. "Well, now is your time, Emelia."

With a swift motion, he freed the Akuma and it started to fly through the room, leaving purple and black sparks in the air. His white companions settled motionless on the ground.

Emma frowned, making a similar expression to Ladybug. Her eyes wandered to her grandfather, then fixed on the only other moving thing in the room.

Gabriel's lips twitched as he watched Emma get up. She rolled forwards in a crawling position, then stretched her legs and eventually gained enough momentum to swing her upper body up. It was quite a funny view.

Her small chubby hands reached up as the black butterfly came closer and closer.

Gabriel took some steps in their direction, not wanting to interrupt the moment. Intensely he watched as his Akuma landed on her hand and flapped its wings slower than before. Emma chuckled at the contact. She flobbed down on her butt again.

"Come on." Gabriel whispered, "Don't disappoint me, Emelia." And she didn't. The butterfly crawled into the palm of her hand and she cupped it almost immediately. A little squeak escaped Emma and she laughed as clean white wings tickled her skin.

Nooroo appeared as Gabriel dropped his transformation and they both took in the scene. Even though they had expected something like this, actually seeing it was a bit more to take in.

 

* * *

 

Ladybug dropped in an ally, her partner landing next to her seconds later as their transformations ran out. Pink and green light filled the space as two exhausted kwamis appeared and demanded food.

“This… was weird,” Adrien stated as he offered Plagg cheese.

Marinette nodded. “Hawk Moth never withdrew an Akuma before. One second we were fighting against a flower woman and the next she just turned back to her civilian form. At least she hadn’t made too much damage yet.”

“True.” Taking his girlfriend’s hand, Adrien peaked out of the ally, looking if anyone was watching them. As the coast was clear, the two of them mixed themselves between the busy Parisian pedestrian. “Whatever is going on with our favourite butterfly villain, it’s just a bit concerning.”

“We should be thankful, at least we didn’t lose too much time. Is Emma still at the mansion?”

“I guess so. Yeah, Nathalie just texted me about picking her up.” He turned his phone to Marinette to show her the message and the young couple decided to walk towards the mansion. Luckily, they weren’t that far away.

“How was your exam by the way?” Marinette asked as they walked along the Seine, hands swinging back and forths between them.

Adrien shrugged. “Good. I don’t think it was perfect but good enough to not let me fail the semester.”

“Same here.” Mari whined, “I know that business classes are necessary but… I really just want to learn more about fashion design, not marketing strategies.” The blonde chuckled and they finally arrived at the front gate of the mansion. Nathalie was already working again too, looking well rested after a free evening and she led them to Adrien’s old bedroom.

The sight that was presented to the young couple was… shocking? Well, it wasn’t common to see Gabriel Agreste of all people sit on the floor in casual clothes, holding a little plastic butterfly while entertaining his grandchild. Emma’s eyes were wide as she followed every movement of the lilac object, then tried to grab it.

“You can’t purify this, darling.” Gabriel whispered, “It’s not a real Akuma.” Emma mumbled in disagreement, not giving up on her goal.

Adrien met Marinette’s gaze slowly, unsure of how to speak up. “Uh…”

Gabriel froze by the sound. Only seconds later, he rolled his shoulders, put the toy down and stood up. “I see you made it here safely.”

“We did but we would have been here sooner without the Akuma attack,” Marinette explained as she stepped further into the room, sitting down next to her daughter and greeting her with a soft kiss on the head.

“I heard about that.”

Adrien gently scratched the back of his neck. “Thank you again for watching Emma.”

Gabriel hummed as he intensely fixed his gaze on his son’s hand, or rather his ring. The blonde moved his arm behind his back. He felt just a bit uncomfortable.

“We won’t bother you any longer then, you are probably really busy.” Marinette said and lifted Emma off the ground, walking over to her boyfriend and gently pressed the child in his arms, “Adrien, why don’t you dress up Emmy and buckle her up in the carriage while I pack the bag?”

“Uh, sure?” Adrien frowned but didn’t complain. He nodded to his father and then left the room.

Marinette smiled to herself as she heard Adrien talk in a high voice to his baby, then she intertwined her hands in front of her body and turned to Gabriel. “I know it’s still very soon but, uh, we would like to invite you to Emma’s birthday. It’ll be just the family and some friends, probably at Adrien’s flat. He doesn’t know that I am inventing you but… I know it would mean a lot to him if you came.”

“I try to keep my schedule free.” Gabriel nodded.

The young woman flashed a bright smile at the man. “Thanks, really.”

After the children left, Gabriel settled down in his office chair, looking back and forth between a picture of Emma and the portrait of his wife. Future and past. What was more important?

With a last breath, he made his decision.


	20. Chapter 20

“I can’t believe my parents brought a cake even though I told them not to,” Marinette whispered as she put a box down on the counter.

Adrien chuckled. “You told your parents, who are bakers, to not bring a cake to their grandchild’s first birthday?”

“Look at all that food!” she hissed and pointed at the other two cakes, one made by herself, one made by Alya and the colourful cupcakes from Chloé. “Who is supposed to eat that?”

They shot a quick glance to the living room area. Tom and Sabine sat on the couch, the birthday girl sitting in between them. A deep laughter filled the room as Emma babbled some unrecognizable words after the tall man tickled her sides. 

Alya and Nino had made themselves comfortable on the floor and chatted with the others. Chloé and Nathaniel shared an armchair and since Adrien didn’t own a dining table, all seating areas were taken now.

“If we happen to have leftovers we just gotta give every guest a piece of everything when they leave.” Adrien winked and opened a cabinet to pull out cups and glasses while Marinette sneaked under his arm to the other side of the kitchen to grab a knife. Knowing their identities had helped the young couple a lot in the past weeks. They were in complete sync most of the time, helping and guiding each other.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that so much stuff happened in the past year?” Marinette whispered, cutting the first cake, “Emma was born, we started university, we started to date, Hawk Moth returned and the reveal happened.”

The blonde raised an eyebrow. “You say that like it is a bad thing.”

“It’s not, actually I would describe it as quite good.”

“Good?”

“Good.”  They smiled and then Adrien leaned down to press a quick kiss to his girlfriend’s lips. Kissing had become one of the most positive things about their improved relationship.

“Marinette! Adrien! Stop snogging in the kitchen, we’re hungry.” Alya called from her spot on the living room floor, earning an annoyed glare from her best friend.

Chloé rolled her eyes. “Why are we here again? I don’t even care for that little brat.” She started to look at her fingernails in disinterest. Alya threw a napkin at the mayor’s daughter. Adrien smiled at their antics but there was a slight frown in his expression.

“What’s on your mind?” Marinette asked and bumped her hips into his’, “You don’t seem completely happy.”

“I’m fine,” Adrien said and rolled his shoulders. She wondered if he missed a certain person. In the exact same moment, the doorbell rang.

Marinette grinned, taking the finished drinks from her boyfriend’s hands. “Why don’t you open the door while I get the food to everyone.” She didn’t give him the chance to complain, already turning towards their guests. The blond sighed and brushed his hair aside as he made his way to the entrance area. He didn’t even care to check who it was before opening the door, coming eye to eye to none other than Gabriel Agreste.

“Father.” Adrien breathed in awe at the sight.

“Adrien.” he answered, “So… this is where you are living now.” And only then both men remembered that Gabriel had never been in this building before. He scrunched his nose but didn’t comment.

“Yeah… this is my flat.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, gesturing inside with the other hand, “Come in, you can leave your shoes on if you want to.” “Gabriel just nodded as he followed his son inside.

“Gabriel,” Marinette called from across the room. She had Emma in her arms now, lifting one of her tiny hands with her own in a waving motion. The girl was incredibly adorable with her pink dress and the similar coloured bow in her hair. “Look, Emmy, it’s grandpa.”

A bit awkward, Gabriel waved back and the small girl chuckled. Tom made room for the man on the sofa, leaving all the grandparents to sit in the same spot.

“Uh, I wanna hold the cutie-pie now,” Alya demanded and Marinette rolled her eyes as she gave in and sat Emma down on her best friend’s lap, then walked off in the kitchen again.

“Poor Marinette, can’t even hold her kid for more than five minutes.” Nino mused, scotching closer to Alya as Adrien settled next to him.

“Hey! They get to have her every day!” Alya complained and Chloé groaned.

Nathaniel laughed. “Well, yeah. Of course, they get to have her every day since Mari literally pressed Emma out of her. Do that yourself before complaining.”

“Too much information!” Chloé pressed a hand on Nath’s mouth, “And now I can’t think of anything else, thanks tomato.”

“Enough!” Marinette said and finally returned to the living room area, holding a cake with a single red candle. She smiled brightly. “Okay, guys, shall we sing?”

Sabine clapped her hands together and started the song. “Happy birthday to you.” - Mari, Adrien, Nino, Alya, and Tom followed - “Happy birthday to you.” - Nathaniel gave Chloé a little bump with his shoulder and the two of them also started - “Happy birthday, dear Emma. Happy birthday to you.”

“Yey.” Marinette cheered, putting the cake on the table. “A whole year!”

“Here’s to many more,” Adrien said and lifted his glass for a toast. The others did a similar thing. They fell into a comfortable small talk about various topics, eating cake and cupcakes. Emma wandered from one lap to another and Marinette was kind of flustered by the expensive presents. She had insisted that Gabriel really didn’t have to design seven different jumpers. He said it was nothing.

“So,” Gabriel said, “what are you planning to do after university, Marinette?”

She hummed and tapped a fork against her lips. “I kind of want to start a small business. It doesn’t have to be a boutique yet but maybe an online shop? Maybe I’ll try to live off commissions first since I am planning to move out of the bakery.”

“Move out?” Nino raised an eyebrow while cutting a piece off the cake, “That’s new information.”

“Yep. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. Even though we have a nice life at the bakery, I can’t keep continuing to get on my parents' nerves.” 

“What you do not, sweety.” Sabine interjected, “But we would like it if you would move in with Adrien instead of trying to live on your own with a baby.”

Marinette hummed, slowing her motions down and then shyly met her boyfriend’s eyes. “I don’t think we’re really ready to move together yet. Besides, we decided to spend the weekends here.”

Knowing their identities also came with a lot of talking and the first thing the couple talked about was Emma. How they could hide their alter egos from her the best way possible. It was a difficult decision, to say the least.

In the end, Chloé and Nathaniel were the first ones to leave, saying they had an important appointment to attend. Nino was the next one since he had to get some rest before his late night shift. As the afternoon progressed, the flat became more and more silent. Alya was the last one to make her goodbye.

With a deep sigh, Marinette dropped on the sofa, checking on Emma who slept in her rocking chair. “You know, we won’t get any rest tonight if we let her sleep now.”

“I don’t care, honestly. At least it'll be quiet for a while. What do you think of movies and take out?” Adrien leaned down and picked up the jumpers from his father. The designs were really something. From a Ladybug themed one to a blue with a peacock symbol. “I’ll put that stuff in her room, you can turn on the TV?” Adrien picked up the bunch of clothes and was about to start walking as something dropped from the pile. 

Marinette frowned as she lifted the grey box off the ground. “Is that another present?”

“Has to be.” Adrien nodded, “I don’t think our friends would forget a jewelry box here.”

“A jewelry box,” Marinette whispered skeptical as she opened the upper part to reveal a single lilac stone, almost like brooch sitting on a velvet black underground. She was about to touch it as a black orb flew into her face.

“Don’t touch it, idiot!” Plagg hissed and Marinette dropped the box. Tikki immediately flew over it in circles.

Adrien put the jumpers down again. “Why?” he asked, raising an eyebrow while looking at the kwamis.

“Well, this is the butterfly miraculous, we don’t know if it’s maybe under a spell.” Tikki explained, “It doesn’t look like it though.”

“Butterfly miraculous!?” Marinette screeched, “Wait,  _ this  _ is the butterfly miraculous!? How did it come in here? Does… does that mean Hawk Moth knows our identities?”

“It also means that he gave up being Hawk Moth.” Plagg shrugged.

“But why would he?” Adrien asked, now folding his legs while sitting down, “And how did it come in here or better, how did he discovered us?”

Marinette was close to freaking out, rocking back and forth in her position. Tikki flew up to hug her cheek gently.

Plagg folded his arm. “We need to get this to Fu, pronto.”

“But Fu is not in Paris right now.” Adrien reminded the kwami, “Maybe that is the reason why Hawk Moth came to us.”

“He came to us.” Marinette whisper screamed, pointing a finger frantically at her chest, “He came to Adrien and Marinette, our civilian selves, and he broke into your flat to hide his miraculous.”

“It is quite suspicious. But now that he gave up his power, we should be saved, right?”

“It could be a trick.” Tikki warned, “Miraculous stones can be put under spells to protect them but some of them can also lock its powers for centuries. We have to wait until the guardian is in Paris again, he needs to get it back and store it safely.”

"Hawk Moth has been in your flat." Marinette continued to manically whisper."He knows who we are but we don't know who he is."

"We got this, Bugaboo." Adrien smiled and lay a hand on her shoulder, "We always got this."

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Fu sat in the middle of an old wooden house on the other side of the world. The wind was howling outside as a storm approached over the small island. He could hear thunder shutter outside. A small woman hurried through the room, closing windows and curtains fastly. With a swift motion, she fired the oven in the back and a warmth filled the space, then she stilled.

“What are you doing here, Fu?” she asked and turned to face him. Her deep dark brown eyes met his.

“I need your help, Hao.”

That made her snort and she brushed her floor-length grey hair out of her face. “You need my help? And where have you been when we needed your help after the miraculous temple burned down? You took the box, took the book and fled from your responsibility as the guardian.”

“I tried to save it or would you have it rather be burned too?” Fu questioned and Hao rolled her eyes.

“It’s easy for you to say that. The temple was our home. We lost everything that day.” She sighed. Fu almost choked as a leaf green snake crawled out of her long-sleeve coat and hissed. “Don’t be afraid, Reuben shares my disappointment in you but he would never attack someone.”

“Oh, this is Reuben? He changed a lot.” The snake curled around the small table’s leg where the two humans sat. He seemed to glitter golden in the light of the flames.

Hao raised a brow. “You’ve been gone for almost seventy years, of course, he changed.” She narrowed her eyes. “I wonder what helped you to stay alive.”

Her eyes flickered to his bracelet and Fu smirked. “Not all of us are able to use the youth spell to expand their lifespan.”

“What happened to the other miraculous?” There was a long and heavy silence and it grew and grew with every passing second. Hao leaned over the table to fill her cup with some tea and did the same for him.

The guardian took a long breath. “There were a lot of complications on my way to Europe, the last century hasn’t been very good for the countries there, especially because of the wars. I lost the butterfly and peacock miraculous while fleeing.”

“You  _ lost  _ two of the primary miraculous!?” Hao exclaimed, “Are you for real!?”

“Yes and I know it is not good but there is an even bigger problem. The butterfly got into the wrong hands and its wielder started to attack the city of Paris. I choose two holders for the Ladybug and Black Cat to fight him. They didn’t know their identities but already knew themselves as civilians. They had a child together before they could reveal themselves.”

Hao’s eyes widened and her mouth opened in silent shook. “A child of balance? Oh god, that’s even worse than losing the miraculous! What about its energy? Do you know something about its energy?”

“It has both, creation and destruction. What I am more concerned about is what the Ladybug kwami, Tikki, mentioned.” Fu paused for a second, his eyes meeting the ones of his old friend, “Johwa could still be alive.”

“Alive? Johwa? That’s impossible!” Hao watched as her snake slowly moved along her arm and upwards around her neck, “He has been killed during the fight, remember?”

“That’s what I have been assuming too but think about the possibilities. We don’t know much about the fight except for the fact that the ultimate power has been used. It is possible to travel through time and space with its help so Johwa could have been banned from our world.” Fu explained and brushed his fingers through his beard.

“Well, while this is possible, don’t you think Johwa would have used his own powers to find a way back here by now?”

“His destruction side tended to overweight so it would take him very long to archive the ultimate power. Besides, time is relative so while centuries passed in our world, it could have been only minutes after the fight in his.”

“So…” Hao raised an eyebrow, her fingers twitching in her lap, “What has that to do with you visiting me?”

“I need you to cause a spell.” said Fu simply, “When Johwa ever returns… Having both children of balance in our world would be even more dangerous than only one. They could have the powers to shred our world into pieces when their energies are too unbalanced. We need to stop Johwa before he has the chance to come here himself.”

Hao frowned. “You want to kill him?”

“That won’t be necessary. There is a spell in the miraculous book that might help us but before we can take his powers, we need to get him to our world. I need you to summon a portal.”

“A portal!?” she laughed, “You want me-” - Hao pointed at her chest and Reuben hissed at the sudden movement - “to summon a portal? I’ve never finished my studies in magic at the miraculous temple. And even if I had, only great masters were able to wield the magic of the universe after decades of meditating. I am not the right person for this, Fu.”

The old man hummed. “Yes, you might not be the right person, but you are the only person left to be able to help me.” He opened his bag, the only thing he brought with him, “I have the miraculous book with me.”

Giving the woman the book, Fu waited for her response. Hao made a big scene of looking at page after page even though he exactly knew she couldn’t read the text. She closed her eyes and thought, the only sound left was of the harsh wind howling outside.

She then spoke up. “I would need to visit the temple since it is the door to the universe but even if I study every day for multiple hours, it could take me years to get a hang of the magic. I won’t promise any success.”

“Thank you.”

And with that, the future was on the line on both sides of the world. 

And it all would be coming down on Emelia Adele Agreste at one point. 

 

 

**To be continued?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end :)
> 
> Thank you all so much for leaving kudos and comments! It was so fun to get back to writing and receive so much positive response! A huge thank you to you all!
> 
> Like you can see, I am planning to do a sequel... but there are some things I have to finish for school before leaving the country for a year at the end of summer. I really really hope I will be able to finish the sequel before that point since it's going to be much shorter than this story.
> 
> If you happen to still have questions, you can find me on Tumblr (toodeepinthatfanzone) or just comment :)
> 
> Have a great day! :)


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